Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.”
The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank.
Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA
He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable partly because Lai — whom he referred to as “brash” and “evidently reckless” — has been more explicit in “making the case for Taiwanese nationhood” and Taiwan’s national sovereignty than his predecessor, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Goldstein said Lai’s statements on Taiwan’s independent status were not sufficiently low-profile and provoked accusations from Beijing that he was inviting “more conflict and risk.”
“Washington should tread carefully,” Goldstein said, adding that the US should refocus its defense efforts in the Indo-Pacific region on “actual treaty allies” such as Japan, South Korea, Australia and the Philippines.
In response, MOFA said the government consistently upholds cross-strait peace and stability, and promotes its China policy with a steady, practical and reasonable attitude.
Taiwan has never changed its commitment to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo,” nor has it sought to escalate tensions, it said, adding that Lai has repeatedly emphasized that “peace is the only option.”
Maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait has long been Taiwan’s position and is a widespread consensus within the international community, the ministry said.
Beijing is the party undermining peace and stability by continuing to engage in political propaganda, military intimidation against Taiwan, including large-scale drills, “gray zone” tactics and cognitive warfare operations, it said.
The government will continue to improve its self-defense capabilities and bolster whole-of-society resilience to safeguard Taiwan’s democracy, it said.
Robust self-defense capabilities are indispensable to maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and throughout the region, it added.
Time also published two other Taiwan-related articles on Thursday. One, titled “Taiwan in the Shadow of War” by Charlie Campbell, editor-at-large at the magazine, examined the geopolitical risks and growing threat of conflict facing Taiwan.
Another, “How Trump Can Avoid a War Over Taiwan,” was written by retired Chinese People’s Liberation Army senior colonel Zhou Bo (周波), a research fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
In his piece, Zhou echoed themes raised in the other two articles, saying that US President Donald Trump was right not to allow Lai to stop over in New York, adding that Taiwan is “the only issue that can drag the two titans [the US and China] into a full-blown conflict.”
Zhou also suggested that Trump establish a formal rule prohibiting Taiwanese officials from transiting through major US cities as a way to “test the reaction of the US government over any changing attitude,” and thereby avoid a potential war with Beijing.
He urged Washington to silence “sensational remarks” by US military officers on when China might invade Taiwan, and withdraw US military trainers stationed in Taiwan.
“President Trump should warn Lai to watch his words,” Zhou wrote, adding that Trump should encourage Taiwan to accept “the ‘one China’ 1992 consensus.”
The “1992 consensus” — a term that former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party has never recognized the “1992 consensus,” saying that Beijing does not acknowledge the existence of the Republic of China and that acceptance of the formula would imply agreement with China’s sovereignty claim over Taiwan.
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