Renowned US political scientist Francis Fukuyama yesterday said he thinks Ukrainians are much more willing to defend themselves than Taiwanese, which poses a significant threat to Taiwan’s future and independence.
Fukuyama, the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, made the remarks in a speech titled “Threats to Liberalism and the Liberal World Order” in a virtual forum held by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation.
Russia attacked Ukraine because it wants to undo the effects after the collapse of communism in 1991, he said, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin feels threatened by Ukrainian democracy, which could motivate democratic movements in Russia.
Photo: CNA
“The geopolitical challenge from China is bigger than that from Russia,” he said. “Chinese power is much more multidimensional, in terms of economic, political and increasingly in military powers.”
One domain where Chinese power is not great is in the social and cultural dimension, as non-Chinese in general do not admire its society and do not want to live in the country, he added.
Since the rise of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), China is evolving from an authoritarian to a totalitarian state, with its social credit system being the world’s most advanced surveillance network for the purpose of social control, he said.
International relations are now at an important junction, and depend on how the Russian attack on Ukraine plays out, he said, adding that China is observing how the US and other democracies respond.
Fukuyama also spoke of how the crisis relates to Taiwan’s relations with China.
“We are entering a geopolitical era in which unfortunately we have to take military threats and military power much more seriously,” he said.
“I’m afraid the actions that we thought were unthinkable a few years ago are now thinkable,” Fukuyama said regarding the possibility of China moving its military into Taiwan, adding that Taiwan should rethink its defense policy and reinstate mandatory military conscription.
“I think one of the differences between Taiwan and Ukraine is that, in my perception, the Ukrainians are much more willing to fight for themselves than Taiwanese people, and that poses a really big threat to Taiwan’s future and independence,” he said.
Some Taiwanese believe that the US would protect them in the event of war, but that would only happen if Taiwanese are willing to fight for themselves, he said, adding that the attitudes of Taiwanese and the sacrifices they are willing to make are essential.
Global democracies comprise the greatest share of economic and military power, but a large deficit is that domestic politics in many democratic countries are not supportive of strong international positions, including in the US, he said.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS