Following Vice President Annette Lu's (呂秀蓮) claim on Friday that Taiwan and China are in a "quasi-war" state, academics warned yesterday that cross-strait tensions remain high at a conference discussing recent military exercises conducted by China, Taiwan and the US.
"Causes for conflict have been defused, but hidden concerns still exist" since President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration on May 20, said Chang Wu-yen (張五岳), professor at Tamkang University's Institute of China Studies.
Presidential advisor Chen Lung-chu (陳隆志) chaired the conference, which was organized by the Taiwan New Century Foundation.
Along with efforts to modernize its military, China has increased its unification campaign among the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Chang said.
"It is now easier for PLA sol-diers to obtain information on the outside world through the Internet. In order to prevent the soldiers from being `polluted,' China launched media, psychological and legal wars against Taiwan," Chang said.
In the three wars, he said, Beijing attempted to demonize Taiwan's democratization, label Taiwan's constitutional reform as a move toward independence and make a unification law the legal basis for union with Taiwan, he said.
With its deep distrust of the nation's president, Beijing is watching closely to see whether the Democratic Progressive Party and its political ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, will win a majority of seats in the year-end legislative elections, Chang said.
"China fears Chen Shui-bian will push for amendment of the Referendum Law (公投法) after the legislative elections. It is worried that the president will use the law as a tool in the 2006 constitutional re-engineering project," he said.
"In fact, if China still believes it can effectively rein in Taiwan through the US, its relationship with Taiwan can remain stable," said Chang, who visited China, the US and Canada to collect opinions concerning the issue over the past month.
Chen Ming-tong (
"The US would like to see China think about the boundary of its national interests. It particularly wants China to consider how to make its national interests compatible with those of the US," Chen Ming-tong said.
He said that the US, using a carrot-and-stick strategy with China, "has warned China not to hastily plunge into action and showed Beijing a way to go. This way will not contradict the US' national interests."
Considering the recent military exercises by China, Taiwan and the US, Wang Kung-yi (王崑義), an Tamkang University associate professor at the Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, said that only under three conditions will the coun-tries' strategic roles change.
"First, the Chinese authorities start democratization or collapse. Second, China unifies with Taiwan. Third, Taiwan declares independence," said Wang.
Lacking patience to wait for one of the three conditions to take place, a number of Beijing hawks have been calling on the Chinese authorities to launch a war against Taiwan as soon as possible, Wang said.
These hawks regard the best time to start a war with Taiwan as in 2005 or 2006. With the 2008 Olympics in mind, China would try to minimize the scale of such a war, he said, for they believe that if a war were started after 2008, its impact might be much more far-reaching.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
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