Taiwan is being bullied by China and the US should do something about it, a US congressional committee was told on Wednesday.
“We need to help Taiwan avoid being coerced into making unfair concessions to mainland China,” said Patrick Cronin, the senior director of the Asia program at the Center for a New American Security.
Cronin, who had just returned from a visit to Taiwan, said it was being “squeezed” by China “more and more every day.”
Addressing a US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee hearing on “Rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific Region and Implications for US National Security,” Cronin said that Washington needed to accelerate an official review of the US-Japan defense guidelines.
“We need a common strategic approach to countering Chinese coercive diplomacy in the short term and countering Chinese anti-access aerial-denial capabilities in the long run,” he said.
US allies in Asia have been concerned that as China has become stronger, it has also become more assertive, said Michael Auslin, director of Japanese studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
“They’re concerned about their particular sets of territorial disputes and other issues in which they feel that there is little chance for each of them alone to resolve these on terms that would be most favorable to them,” Auslin said.
Over the past several years, there has been an increasing tendency for friends and allies in Asia to look to the US for backup and support, he said.
“In part, they do this because the administration has stated that it is rebalancing, it is re-engaging, it is back in Asia,” Auslin said.
“And yet, when we come down to the specifics that concern them and interest them, the US often takes a pass,” he said.
Auslin said that both Japan and the Philippines felt frustration at the lack of US support over territorial issues with China in the South and East China Seas.
While there was no fear of a major conflict breaking out soon, Auslin said that Asian nations feared that the environment in which they operated today — “the environment they know and understand” — was “slowly slipping away.”
“That is where the influence of the United States is most important — in stressing that we will not passively sit by while the security environment degrades for the worse and then raise the significant questions about stability, insecurity and the potential for conflict,” Auslin said.
“The administration needs to more clearly articulate the rationale behind the rebalance and its goals,” he said.
Admiral Gary Roughead, the former commander of the US Pacific fleet, said the US approach in rebalancing “must be strategic and not superficial.”
The admiral asked the committee to consider whether China was intending ultimately to become not only assertive, but aggressive.
“I think we should actually be very worried and should ask ourselves the question why is everyone who can afford it in the region buying more weapons?” Roughead said.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man