Recent appointments at several Chinese think tanks on Taiwan studies are part of Beijing’s preparations to possible changes in US policy toward the Asia-Pacific region by US President Donald Trump, analysts said on Friday.
China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations deputy president Yang Mingjie (楊明杰) was appointed director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; and Dai Bingguo (戴秉國), a former Chinese State councilor experienced in foreign affairs, was elected chairman of the National Society of Taiwan Studies.
The appointments are “100 percent related to Trump coming to power,” said Lin Ting-hui (林廷輝), an international relations expert and deputy chief executive officer at the Taiwan’s Prospect Foundation.
He said that people working in Chinese think tanks on Taiwan affairs must be familiar with international relations before they can deal with the situation in the Asia-Pacific region.
Although Trump’s stance regarding relations between Taiwan, the US and China remains unclear, it will certainly be different from that of his predecessor, former US president Barack Obama, Lin said.
Beijing is aware that Taiwan-US ties are governed by the Taiwan Relations Act, which means the US plays a key role in cross-strait relations, he said.
Under these circumstances, Beijing will focus on boosting its efforts toward Washington to deal with its relations with Taiwan, Lin said.
Beijing has long been aware of the correlation between cross-strait ties and international issues, said Tsai Ming-yan (蔡明彥), a professor of international relations at National Chung Hsing University, adding that China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) and his predecessor, Wang Yi (王毅), are experienced in foreign policy.
He said that the Trump administration will readjust the US’ foreign policy, which might change the relations between Taiwan, the US and China.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the