Chien full of bluster
Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (
But it is obvious that this kind of empty bluster is a regression to the unrealistic insistence that the ROC is the sole representative of China that was the cornerstone of foreign policy under the KMT. The ministry should have no objection to Nauru recognizing the PRC -- it is the legitimate representative of China.
The ministry should rather request that Nauru continue relations with Taiwan under its true name -- Taiwan. Even less is there a legitimate reason for the ministry to take the initiative by cutting relations with Nauru, which shows similarities with the UN fiasco of 1971.
Given that Chien, a protege of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), was appointed by the Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) administration, and especially since he has determined that he will join the DPP, it is high time that he cleaned the cobwebs out of his brain on the matter of the status of Taiwan. I would expect your paper, with its strong stand on Taiwan sovereignty, to take him to task on this.
Friends of mine who work as translators in the ministry say it has hardly caught up with the Lee administration's policies, much less with A-bian's. But it is clear that world events will not wait for such glacial slowness in adjustment to the fact that the ROC was virtually eclipsed by the PRC after 1949, except to serve as a US prop in the containment of commu-nism. It is imperative that Tai-wan now move quickly, if judiciously, to dismantle the ROC facade.
Chien's performance in the Nauru case again shows why the opulent foreign ministry should be pared down and its work largely contracted out to non-governmental organizations that can build people-to-people international relations quickly and flexibly, without the historical burden of the Chiang regime and its World Anti-Communist League henchmen. Perhaps in some not-to-distant future the ministry could be reconstructed with the participation of those who have always stood up for Taiwan's right to its own name.
Linda Gail Arrigo
Taipei
Chen mobilizes the DPP fleet
Like most observers, I was deeply alarmed when the DPP announced that President Chen would serve as its chairman. It is a perfect recipe for dictatorship -- the coalition of a presidency and a party chairmanship.
Surprisingly, upon reviewing his alignment of the DPP organization, I was greatly impressed by this smart move. He has converted a chaotic political party into a powerful fleet that may be used to fight for Taiwan's sovereignty.
This nation's young democracy has been in stormy seas for the past two years. Chen realized that in order to win a sea battle, a commander must change his war plan from time to time.
Now with two strong fleets, the central government and the DPP, under his command, we hope he can lead the nation out of the situation and win the battle.
Jim Chung
Southfield, Michigan
In their recent op-ed “Trump Should Rein In Taiwan” in Foreign Policy magazine, Christopher Chivvis and Stephen Wertheim argued that the US should pressure President William Lai (賴清德) to “tone it down” to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait — as if Taiwan’s words are more of a threat to peace than Beijing’s actions. It is an old argument dressed up in new concern: that Washington must rein in Taipei to avoid war. However, this narrative gets it backward. Taiwan is not the problem; China is. Calls for a so-called “grand bargain” with Beijing — where the US pressures Taiwan into concessions
The term “assassin’s mace” originates from Chinese folklore, describing a concealed weapon used by a weaker hero to defeat a stronger adversary with an unexpected strike. In more general military parlance, the concept refers to an asymmetric capability that targets a critical vulnerability of an adversary. China has found its modern equivalent of the assassin’s mace with its high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapons, which are nuclear warheads detonated at a high altitude, emitting intense electromagnetic radiation capable of disabling and destroying electronics. An assassin’s mace weapon possesses two essential characteristics: strategic surprise and the ability to neutralize a core dependency.
Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) said in a politburo speech late last month that his party must protect the “bottom line” to prevent systemic threats. The tone of his address was grave, revealing deep anxieties about China’s current state of affairs. Essentially, what he worries most about is systemic threats to China’s normal development as a country. The US-China trade war has turned white hot: China’s export orders have plummeted, Chinese firms and enterprises are shutting up shop, and local debt risks are mounting daily, causing China’s economy to flag externally and hemorrhage internally. China’s
During the “426 rally” organized by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party under the slogan “fight green communism, resist dictatorship,” leaders from the two opposition parties framed it as a battle against an allegedly authoritarian administration led by President William Lai (賴清德). While criticism of the government can be a healthy expression of a vibrant, pluralistic society, and protests are quite common in Taiwan, the discourse of the 426 rally nonetheless betrayed troubling signs of collective amnesia. Specifically, the KMT, which imposed 38 years of martial law in Taiwan from 1949 to 1987, has never fully faced its
RSS