In mid-May President Chen Shui-bian (
The point about the Taiwan-Hong Kong air agreement is, of course, that Hong Kong has the same reservations about dealing directly with the Taiwan government as its masters in Beijing. So, the air agreement between the two territories, rather than being hammered out by the governments concerned, is worked out by the commercial organizations it involves, the Taiwan Airlines Association -- a body which represents EVA Airways and China Airlines -- negotiating for Taiwan and Cathay Pacific and Dragon Air negotiating for Hong Kong. This is not to say that government officials do not play a role. For Taiwan the talks are, in fact, largely orchestrated by officials of the Civil Aeronautics Bureau and the Mainland Affairs Council. But the pretence that these are advisers drafted in an ad hoc style by the airlines saves diplomatic face in a way acceptable to the Hong Kong side. A similar mechanism is used for Taiwan-Macau air links.
Essentially, Chen's inspiration was this: Let us put aside the Taiwanese legal fiction that Hong Kong and Macau are in some way different to China itself -- so-called third territories; what we have are fully functioning transportation agreements with two parts of China, despite the ongoing political problems that exist between the two sides. Why can we then not make such agreements with other parts of China, avoiding the political problems in the same way?
It was interesting to see the immediate reaction to this. The Mainland Affairs Council claimed that there is no way in which commercial organizations could have anything except an advisory role. It must take the lead in any talks -- a denial of its own role in the ongoing talks on renewing the Hong Kong agreement -- while the Straits Exchange Foundation was appalled, seeing direct cross-strait contacts by other authorized groups as removing its reason for being. The Ministry of Economic Affairs thought that the idea is a good one, as did the transportation ministry. And China? Well, it said that it would talk to Taiwan businesspeople but only those already in its back pocket, such as Uni-President food group's CEO Kao Chin-yen (
China's reaction should probably be seen as simply mischievous. It knows that there is a lot of work to be done on the Taiwan side before Chen's idea becomes something that could be called a policy.
For Taiwan the issue is not so much turf battles between various government agencies, but rather the ideological problem of security versus commerce. Direct links are good for Taiwan's business but is business with China -- economic convergence -- good for Taiwan's sovereignty? Many in the DPP think not, as does former president Lee Teng-hui (
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
As an American living in Taiwan, I have to confess how impressed I have been over the years by the Chinese Communist Party’s wholehearted embrace of high-speed rail and electric vehicles, and this at a time when my own democratic country has chosen a leader openly committed to doing everything in his power to put obstacles in the way of sustainable energy across the board — and democracy to boot. It really does make me wonder: “Are those of us right who hold that democracy is the right way to go?” Has Taiwan made the wrong choice? Many in China obviously
About 6.1 million couples tied the knot last year, down from 7.28 million in 2023 — a drop of more than 20 percent, data from the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs showed. That is more serious than the precipitous drop of 12.2 percent in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the saying goes, a single leaf reveals an entire autumn. The decline in marriages reveals problems in China’s economic development, painting a dismal picture of the nation’s future. A giant question mark hangs over economic data that Beijing releases due to a lack of clarity, freedom of the press
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to