Warning that a kind of "regional Armageddon" could result, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday that he would urge China not to use force to resolve its dispute with Taiwan during a visit by Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
Jiang is scheduled to make a four-day visit to Australia before attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Auckland, New Zealand, where he will also hold talks with US President Bill Clinton.
Tension in the Taiwan Strait has heightened as Beijing stepped up military pressure on Taiwan to retract a recent affirmation of statehood by President Lee Teng-hui (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YINGN
Downer said military force to resolve the issue was unacceptable.
"We will be saying to President Jiang ... that we obviously take a very strong view against the use of force in the Taiwan Strait," Downer said on the Ten network's Meet the Press program.
"What Beijing understands is that any military conflict with Taiwan would have simply horrendous implications for China's relationship with the United States," he said.
"A war between China and the United States is something tantamount to a regional Armageddon."
Australian anxiety about tensions between China and Taiwan was raised by Jiang's insistence to The Australian newspaper last week that China reserved the right to use force to reunite with Taiwan.
Jiang said China's preferred policy was reunification by peaceful means, but this needed the support of a military option to be effective.
"It is the shared aspiration of the entire 1.2 billion Chinese people to settle the question of Taiwan at an early date," he said. "If China were to undertake not to use force, the peaceful reunification of China would become hollow words."
Among issues expected to be discussed during China-US talks are Taiwan and China's accession to the WTO.
US-China relations have been strained since the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would severely threaten the national security of the US, Japan, the Philippines and other nations, while global economic losses could reach US$10 trillion, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) wrote in an article published yesterday in Foreign Affairs. “The future of Taiwan is not merely a regional concern; it is a test of whether the international order can withstand the pressure of authoritarian expansionism,” Lin wrote in the article titled “Taiwan’s Plan for Peace Through Strength — How Investments in Resilience Can Deter Beijing.” Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) intent to take Taiwan by force
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