President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has a “cool charisma,” but the policy demands on her new administration are “daunting,” former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) chairman Richard Bush on Wednesday told a conference in Washington.
His words were echoed by Shelley Rigger, a professor of East Asian politics at Davidson College, who said Taiwan has “a lot to be worried about.”
She told the conference — organized by the Brookings Institution and the Foreign Policy Research Institute — that it was reasonable to be skeptical.
“It is not going to be easy to be Tsai Ing-wen for the next four years,” Rigger said. “The virtue of Tsai is that she recognizes the magnitude of the problems that Taiwan is facing, and the world in general is facing, and I think she is more open to creative solutions.”
She said the world should be cheering for Tsai, because if she finds solutions to Taiwan’s problems it would benefit everyone.
Rigger said that Tsai was facing the problems of globalization, technology and the way capitalism had emerged in this century and is challenging states everywhere.
Former US Department of State official Alan Romberg told the conference — which focused on the prospects for the Tsai administration — that in charting a future course, both Taiwan and China should demonstrate the greatest flexibility and creativity possible.
“Not only do they owe that to themselves, but they also owe it to the larger international community, which has a lot at stake in keeping peace and stability in the [Taiwan] Strait,” he said.
Vincent Wang (王維正), a professor of political science at the University of Richmond, said that overall, the US-Taiwan relationship would be “largely positive” under Tsai, but that it would take some time to adjust, would need more skills to manage and would involve “higher maintenance” than during the previous eight years.
Wang said that Tsai would transit through the US later this month on her way to and from Panama and Paraguay, and the trip would provide opportunities for the US and Taiwanese security teams to “clarify intentions” and make requests of each other.
He said that coping with Taiwan’s defensive needs would be high on the agenda.
Wang said that arms sales to Taiwan had never been truly free from political or diplomatic considerations, and both sides should try to depoliticize the arms procurement issue.
He said the US should help Taiwan to build diesel-electric submarines and “be a little more encouraging” in helping Taiwan enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Wang said there is a need for caution, as Beijing might decide it is a good time to test both Tsai and the outgoing administration of US President Barack Obama.
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS