“Taiwan is not a problem. It’s a friend,” the Washington Post said on Thursday on its op-ed page.
American Enterprise Institute security studies expert Gary Schmitt wrote the article, which said that the US should improve military, economic and diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
“Given Taiwan’s democracy, it is also the right thing to do,” Schmitt wrote.
“I have already heard that some members of Congress support it,” a Washington-based Taiwan-watcher said.
“I don’t expect it will have any immediate impact, but it has put Taiwan on a lot of radar screens,” he said about the article.
The article said that Washington’s “one China” policy is a relic of a bygone era, adding that “it seems we can bring Cuba in from the cold, but not Taiwan.”
Schmitt srote that US policymakers see Taiwan as a problem, but that it should be seen as a contributor to the US strategic position in Asia.
He said that Taiwan is a model of democratic governance, an important trading partner and home to some of the world’s most innovative companies.
Taiwan is sitting astride vital sea-trade lanes and that an intelligent defense plan would help build a key link in East Asia’s first island chain, Schmitt wrote.
Such a plan, he said, would lessen the ability of Chinese air and naval forces to move into the broader Pacific and threaten US forces at sea and on Guam.
“US policy toward Taiwan remains stuck in neutral because of a reluctance to put aside the fiction of ‘one China,’” Schmitt wrote.
“During her campaign and time as president-elect, Tsai [Ing-wen (蔡英文)] has made it clear that she has no intention of roiling the waters with the People’s Republic of China by pushing forward with an explicit claim of independence,” he wrote. “But there is little doubt that a US policy to further normalize relations with Taiwan would increase tensions with Beijing.”
Schmitt said it is an “illusion” to think there is a way forward that does not involve tension with China.
“The only question is whether we use all of our assets or fail to, as the Chinese employ all of theirs,” Schmitt wrote.
“Answering this question is all the more urgent in light of the more assertive and ambitious policies of China’s current leader, [President] Xi Jinping [習近平],” he added.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
Taiwan next year plans to launch its first nationwide census on elderly people living independently to identify the estimated 700,000 seniors to strengthen community-based healthcare and long-term care services, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said on the sidelines of a healthcare seminar that the nation’s rapidly aging population and declining birthrate have made the issue of elderly people living alone increasingly pressing. The survey, to be jointly conducted by the MOHW and the Ministry of the Interior, aims to establish baseline data and better allocate care resources, he
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