In an interview with CNN on Oct. 26, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) signaled that Taiwan wants a dialogue with Beijing to avoid misunderstanding. However, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) on Oct. 29 responded by dismissing Tsai’s gesture and saying that adherence to Beijing’s “one China” principle and the “1992 consensus” is the litmus test of sincerity in dialogue.
No matter whether Ma’s comments faithfully conveyed the opinions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee, for the sake of the peaceful development of neighboring countries, Taiwan should again express its strong willingness to engage in dialogue.
Taiwan is on the path to becoming a normal country, but China is continually hounding it with military harassment. According to a report that the Ministry of National Defense submitted to the Legislative Yuan on Oct. 27, Chinese People’s Liberation Army aircraft have since the beginning of this year made more than 680 incursions into the southwestern part of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
As well as putting increased military pressure on Taiwan, this harassment has prompted the US to assign more aircraft and ships to secure the first island chain.
However, in China’s eyes, tensions between the two sides continue to spiral upward, as expressed by Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) in Rome on Monday last week.
He said that “the US’ connivance and support for Taiwan independence forces is also to blame,” the People’s Daily reported.
From yesterday to Thursday, the CCP’s 19th Central Committee is holding its Sixth Plenary Session, at which it is expected to ratify the party’s “third historical resolution.”
Maybe Taiwan can take advantage of the international media’s attention on the plenary to suggest that the leaders of both sides of the Taiwan Strait hold “national affairs talks on the South China Sea” to reduce the possibility of accidental conflict. No matter whether the other side responds, it would be a way for Taiwan to thank its allies for their support in the field of military diplomacy. At least Taiwanese can say that Taiwan has made an effort.
Shih Ya-hsuan is an associate professor at National Kaohsiung Normal University’s Department of Geography.
Translated by Julian Clegg
In the event of a war with China, Taiwan has some surprisingly tough defenses that could make it as difficult to tackle as a porcupine: A shoreline dotted with swamps, rocks and concrete barriers; conscription for all adult men; highways and airports that are built to double as hardened combat facilities. This porcupine has a soft underbelly, though, and the war in Iran is exposing it: energy. About 39,000 ships dock at Taiwan’s ports each year, more than the 30,000 that transit the Strait of Hormuz. About one-fifth of their inbound tonnage is coal, oil, refined fuels and liquefied natural gas (LNG),
On Monday, the day before Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) departed on her visit to China, the party released a promotional video titled “Only with peace can we ‘lie flat’” to highlight its desire to have peace across the Taiwan Strait. However, its use of the expression “lie flat” (tang ping, 躺平) drew sarcastic comments, with critics saying it sounded as if the party was “bowing down” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Amid the controversy over the opposition parties blocking proposed defense budgets, Cheng departed for China after receiving an invitation from the CCP, with a meeting with
To counter the CCP’s escalating threats, Taiwan must build a national consensus and demonstrate the capability and the will to fight. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) often leans on a seductive mantra to soften its threats, such as “Chinese do not kill Chinese.” The slogan is designed to frame territorial conquest (annexation) as a domestic family matter. A look at the historical ledger reveals a different truth. For the CCP, being labeled “family” has never been a guarantee of safety; it has been the primary prerequisite for state-sanctioned slaughter. From the forced starvation of 150,000 civilians at the Siege of Changchun
The two major opposition parties, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), jointly announced on Tuesday last week that former TPP lawmaker Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) would be their joint candidate for Chiayi mayor, following polling conducted earlier this month. It is the first case of blue-white (KMT-TPP) cooperation in selecting a joint candidate under an agreement signed by their chairpersons last month. KMT and TPP supporters have blamed their 2024 presidential election loss on failing to decide on a joint candidate, which ended in a dramatic breakdown with participants pointing fingers, calling polls unfair, sobbing and walking
RSS