With the whole world watching, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Nusa Dua, Indonesia. The meeting has been interpreted differently by the US and China, while other countries have offered their own assessments, but it is certain that US-China tensions have been mitigated, and the probability of war lowered.
Taiwan should seize this opportunity to upgrade its defensive capabilities. The nation must strive to consolidate its national power in the latter half of Biden’s term.
Biden and Xi have known each other for years, having met when both of them were vice presidents.
However, this week was the first time they met in person as presidents. As leaders of the world’s two superpowers, Biden and Xi have a lot to deal with: the politico-economic situation in the post-COVID-19 era, Russia’s war in Ukraine, nuclear proliferation by Iran and North Korea, as well as tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a result of the US-China competition. It remains to be seen how Biden and Xi will draw their respective “red lines.”
As the Biden-Xi talks came to an end, the two countries did not issue any joint communique, but judging from post-meeting information, Washington and Beijing have restarted mutual communications.
After US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei, China unilaterally cut off regular activities with the US on military matters, global climate cooperation, economic collaboration and diplomatic relations. After the Biden-Xi meeting, such exchanges have restarted, with the exception of on military matters.
At the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), representatives from the US and China met, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to visit China in January.
Recent events will help the two nations establish “buffer zones” to avoid potential conflict and ease the crisis resulting from deteriorating ties.
Meanwhile, the cross-Taiwan Strait military situation would be curbed.
Taiwan should take advantage of the “half-time” created by the Biden-Xi talks by bolstering its defensive capabilities in the next two years to remedy the period of self-defeat during the administration of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). It must seize the chance now, otherwise in two years, it will have to contend with a changed situation when Xi might confront a new president in the US, as well as the change in leadership in Taiwan.
Paul Lei is a political commentator.
Translated by Liu Yi-hung
Chinese actor Alan Yu (于朦朧) died after allegedly falling from a building in Beijing on Sept. 11. The actor’s mysterious death was tightly censored on Chinese social media, with discussions and doubts about the incident quickly erased. Even Hong Kong artist Daniel Chan’s (陳曉東) post questioning the truth about the case was automatically deleted, sparking concern among overseas Chinese-speaking communities about the dark culture and severe censorship in China’s entertainment industry. Yu had been under house arrest for days, and forced to drink with the rich and powerful before he died, reports said. He lost his life in this vicious
In South Korea, the medical cosmetic industry is fiercely competitive and prices are low, attracting beauty enthusiasts from Taiwan. However, basic medical risks are often overlooked. While sharing a meal with friends recently, I heard one mention that his daughter would be going to South Korea for a cosmetic skincare procedure. I felt a twinge of unease at the time, but seeing as it was just a casual conversation among friends, I simply reminded him to prioritize safety. I never thought that, not long after, I would actually encounter a patient in my clinic with a similar situation. She had
A recent trio of opinion articles in this newspaper reflects the growing anxiety surrounding Washington’s reported request for Taiwan to shift up to 50 percent of its semiconductor production abroad — a process likely to take 10 years, even under the most serious and coordinated effort. Simon H. Tang (湯先鈍) issued a sharp warning (“US trade threatens silicon shield,” Oct. 4, page 8), calling the move a threat to Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” which he argues deters aggression by making Taiwan indispensable. On the same day, Hsiao Hsi-huei (蕭錫惠) (“Responding to US semiconductor policy shift,” Oct. 4, page 8) focused on
George Santayana wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This article will help readers avoid repeating mistakes by examining four examples from the civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forces and the Republic of China (ROC) forces that involved two city sieges and two island invasions. The city sieges compared are Changchun (May to October 1948) and Beiping (November 1948 to January 1949, renamed Beijing after its capture), and attempts to invade Kinmen (October 1949) and Hainan (April 1950). Comparing and contrasting these examples, we can learn how Taiwan may prevent a war with
RSS