The rumblings prompted by US President Donald Trump’s re-election soon gathered force. First came tariffs and threats of territorial annexation; then the greater shocks of US Vice President J.D. Vance’s Valentine’s Day massacre of European values and Trump’s enthusiastic amplification of Kremlin lines on Ukraine.
On Monday came another seismic moment. For more than a decade, the UN Security Council has been largely paralyzed by the split between the five permanent members — Russia and China on one side; the US, France and the UK on the other. This time, when the US brought a resolution calling for an end to the war in Ukraine on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion, it did not criticize Moscow, demand its withdrawal or back Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The result was that China and Russia backed the resolution — while the UK and France, having failed to temper it, abstained.
Earlier, even Beijing had chosen to abstain rather than reject a UN General Assembly resolution condemning Moscow as the aggressor in Ukraine. It was passed overwhelmingly, with the backing of 93 states. Yet the US joined Russia in voting against it — along with Belarus, North Korea, Syria and a handful of others.
“These are not our friends,” Republican Senator John Curtis wrote on X.
The post-1945 order is beyond repair while Trump occupies the White House. French President Emmanuel Macron’s charm and deftness papered over the problems somewhat when he became the first European leader to meet the US president since his re-election. (British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, not noted for his nimbleness or charisma, was likely to find the task somewhat harder yesterday.) The French president was adroit in flattering Trump even as he told the truth. However, it is not surprising that he failed to make any real progress in closing the gap. Those are not cracks in the transatlantic relationship, but a chasm.
A committed Atlanticist such as Christian Democratic Union leader Friedrich Merz, on course to shortly become the German chancellor, is compelled to urge independence from the US, because “the Americans, at any case the Americans in this administration, do not care much about the fate of Europe.” He warned that European leaders might not be able to talk about NATO in its current form by June. The problem is not only what Trump might do, but what he might not. NATO is built on the conviction that countries would stand by the commitments they make. That confidence cannot exist while Trump is president.
When Starmer told members of parliament on Tuesday that “Here we are, in a world where everything has changed,” he was commenting on Russian aggression, but everyone understood the real shift underlying his remarks. To note, as he did, that the US-UK alliance has survived countless external challenges was not quite a vote of confidence. It tacitly acknowledged that the threat this time is internal.
The ground is rocking beneath Europe’s feet. It must brace itself for further shocks. In place of the post-World War II order, Trump envisages a world where alliances are no more than empty words, and great powers bluff and bully their way through. Bilateral meetings have their purpose — they might offer minimal respite and buy a little time — but it would require common will to defend the interests of European states. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk suggested that European leaders would be meeting in London at the weekend to discuss security. Their best hope of standing firm is by standing together.
Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention. If it makes headlines, it is because China wants to invade. Yet, those who find their way here by some twist of fate often fall in love. If you ask them why, some cite numbers showing it is one of the freest and safest countries in the world. Others talk about something harder to name: The quiet order of queues, the shared umbrellas for anyone caught in the rain, the way people stand so elderly riders can sit, the
Taiwan’s fall would be “a disaster for American interests,” US President Donald Trump’s nominee for undersecretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby said at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday last week, as he warned of the “dramatic deterioration of military balance” in the western Pacific. The Republic of China (Taiwan) is indeed facing a unique and acute threat from the Chinese Communist Party’s rising military adventurism, which is why Taiwan has been bolstering its defenses. As US Senator Tom Cotton rightly pointed out in the same hearing, “[although] Taiwan’s defense spending is still inadequate ... [it] has been trending upwards
Small and medium enterprises make up the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, yet large corporations such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) play a crucial role in shaping its industrial structure, economic development and global standing. The company reported a record net profit of NT$374.68 billion (US$11.41 billion) for the fourth quarter last year, a 57 percent year-on-year increase, with revenue reaching NT$868.46 billion, a 39 percent increase. Taiwan’s GDP last year was about NT$24.62 trillion, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, meaning TSMC’s quarterly revenue alone accounted for about 3.5 percent of Taiwan’s GDP last year, with the company’s
There is nothing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) could do to stop the tsunami-like mass recall campaign. KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) reportedly said the party does not exclude the option of conditionally proposing a no-confidence vote against the premier, which the party later denied. Did an “actuary” like Chu finally come around to thinking it should get tough with the ruling party? The KMT says the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is leading a minority government with only a 40 percent share of the vote. It has said that the DPP is out of touch with the electorate, has proposed a bloated
RSS