China yesterday said that it is to conduct military drills in the East China Sea from today to Monday afternoon, as Vice President William Lai (賴清德) plans stopovers in the US on his way to Paraguay.
Shortly after that statement was released, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it will continue to monitor Chinese drills and that people should remain calm in the face of China "damaging peace and stability."
Lai, who is also the presidential candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), is to pass through New York today and tomorrow on his way to attend Paraguay’s presidential inauguration.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
He then plans to stop in San Francisco on Wednesday and Thursday on his way back to Taipei.
People familiar with the planning said that his trip would be low-profile and follow precedent with previous vice presidential transits.
Lai plans to meet with officials from the American Institute in Taiwan and with the Taiwanese community in the US, they said.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier this month said that Beijing “firmly opposes any visit by ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists to the United States in any name or under whatever pretext.”
China’s maritime safety administration announced that it would hold military drills in the East China Sea from today through Monday afternoon in a likely sign of displeasure from Beijing.
After then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to Taipei in August last year, Beijing responded with military activity around Taiwan that included firing missiles over Taiwan proper. China also cut off military communications with the US, a move the White House called irresponsible.
When President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) met with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a similar transit in the US in April, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army held major military drills around Taiwan.
As Taiwan prepares to pick its next leader in January next year, the candidates’ positions on cross-strait relations are being scrutinized not only by voters, but officials in the US.
It is customary for Taiwan’s presidential front-runners to visit the US and meet administration officials and lawmakers, as well as speak to US research groups, ahead of elections.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate, is likely to visit next month, people familiar with his plans said.
Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has already been and is unlikely to return before the election, people briefed on his travel plans said.
Lai, as the vice president, is constrained in where he can travel and who he can meet. As a sitting senior official, he is not allowed to go to Washington as part of an agreement that has guided US policy on Taiwan since 1979.
Lai is not expected to meet any US lawmakers or senior administration officials on this trip, people familiar with the plans said.
His team hopes to send his vice presidential pick to the US later this year, people familiar with the internal deliberations said.
Officials in the administration of US President Joe Biden have stressed that the US is impartial in Taiwan’s race and would work with whoever is elected, regardless of party affiliation. That means the US gives the leading candidates equal access to US officials.
That is important because in 2011, an unnamed US official’s criticism of Tsai is widely viewed as being at least partially responsible for her election loss in 2012.
Exchanges between senior US officials and Taiwan’s candidates are crucial to ensure a mutual understanding on such issues, and maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, people familiar with the matter said.
What makes these face-to-face conversations even more important this time around: None of the candidates have much experience on foreign policy or national security issues.
Sung Wen-ti (宋文笛), a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, said Lai’s trip would likely be a “storm in a teacup,” adding that he had been taking a more moderate line on China since winning the nomination.
“Unleashing another round of fire and fury at this juncture would only harden Lai again and make life difficult for Beijing’s friends in Taiwan,” Sung said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
UNDER ATTACK: Raymond Greene said there were 412 billion malicious threats in the Asia-Pacific region in the first half of 2023, with 55 percent targeting Taiwan Taiwan not only faces military intimidation from China, but is also on the front line of global cybersecurity threats, and it is taking action to counter those attacks, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Speaking at the opening of this year’s Cybersec Expo in Taipei, the president assured foreign diplomats and exhibitors that Taiwan remained committed to strengthening its defense against cyberattacks and enhancing the resilience of its digital infrastructure. Lai referenced a report from the National Security Bureau (NSB) indicating that the Government Service Network faced an average of 2.4 million intrusion attempts daily last year, more than double the figure
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
RSS