Taiwan faces a number of challenges amid the current US-China conflict, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians and academics told a discussion hosted by the party’s National Policy Foundation in Taipei yesterday.
Taiwan’s current situation is reminiscent of an African proverb: “When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers,” said former KMT legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), convener of the foundation’s national security division.
While Taiwan is not an “elephant” and does not have the ability to intervene in the struggle between the US and China, it does not want to become the grass trampled by the elephants, Lin said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
To maintain cross-strait peace, President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration should propose “creative” solutions to Beijing to restore official channels for communication, he said.
During former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) eight years in office, discussions of the world’s hotspots by international experts did not include the Taiwan Strait, former Mainland Affairs Council minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) said.
However, now almost everyone wonders whether there will be a war between the US and China, and whether there will be a conflict in the Strait, he said.
Given the ongoing US-China disputes, the US presidential election on Nov. 3 could be a dangerous time, Hsia said.
Taiwan’s leaders, politicians or commentators should not use the word “war” lightly, Hsia said, adding that it is the responsibility of government leaders to maintain peace.
“A new cold war” is a good term for describing the US-China situation, said Huang Kwei-bo (黃奎博), head of the Center for Foreign Policy Studies at National Chengchi University’s College of International Affairs.
The president, who is elected by the people, should make strategic judgements for the nation, and one of Tsai’s is to have Taiwan “stand at the forefront of the world’s resistance to China,” Huang said.
Tsai’s administration needs to explain to the public why Taiwan should take this stance, instead of pursuing coexistence, or even peace and prosperity, he said.
Under the Democratic Progressive Party’s rule, cross-strait relations are “not very important,” and it has allowed relations to deteriorate as a way of building its domestic political capital, he added.
Japanese columnist Yoshihiko Honda told the attendees that on the surface, Japan’s diplomacy looks very biased toward the US.
However, over the past seven years under Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the time that US President Donald Trump has been in office, Tokyo has attached great importance to neighboring countries, including Russia and China, he said.
The US is not as reliable as it once was, but Japan cannot afford a large military budget, so under such circumstances, its “only” approach is to establish stable relations with its neighbors, he said.
Over the past four years, Japan has been handling its relations with the US and China very carefully, and he expects it to continue to do so over the next few years whether Trump wins in November, Honda said.
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
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
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
ANOTHER OPTION: The 13-year-old, whose residency status was revoked for holding a Chinese passport, could still apply for residency on humanitarian grounds, the government said The Executive Yuan has rejected an appeal from a 13-year-old Chinese student surnamed Lu (陸), whose permanent residency was revoked after immigration officers discovered he held a Chinese passport. Lu in December 2023 applied to settle in Taiwan to be with his mother, surnamed Lin (林), who is a Taiwan resident, an appeal decision released this month by the Executive Yuan showed. Lin settled in Taiwan after marrying a Taiwanese man in 2003, but the two divorced in 2011, and after marrying a Chinese man, she had Lu, the Executive Yuan’s appeals committee said. Lu’s application was approved in December 2024, and in
RSS