Tue, Aug 18, 2020 page3

• ROC’s role amid US-China friction eyed

  TAIPEI DISCUSSION: Tsai Ing-wen should explain to the public why she has made Taiwan stand at the forefront of the world’s resistance to China, Huang Kwei-bo said

  • By Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  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.

  

  Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Lin Yu-fang, convener of the National Policy Foundation’s national security division, speaks to reporters in Taipei yesterday after a discussion hosted by the think tank.

  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.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Ministry lifts overseas limits on TSMC

  • 2

    New missiles to be deployed in north

  • 3

    Retired officers indicted over collusion

  • 4

    Buffet defies suspension order after illness reports

  • 5

    Chinese spy prosecutions tripled in four years