A number of former US officials and academics ranked Taiwan the No. 1 flashpoint in US-China relations with the potential to trigger military conflict, a US congressional commission hearing on Thursday heard.
Thomas Shugart, a former military adviser in the Office of Net Assessment at the US Department of Defense, told the online hearing on “Deterring PRC [People’s Republic of China] Aggression Toward Taiwan” that he would not put the South China Sea, an area some see as a flashpoint, anywhere close to the same level as Taiwan.
“To me, it’s not really about the South China Sea itself; it’s the first step in securing the broader lines of communication and ability to secure their economic means to be able to be successful in that more vital conflict over their sovereignty that they consider for Taiwan,” he said.
Bonny Lin, who served in the Office of the US Secretary of Defense from 2015 to 2018, agreed, saying she ranks Taiwan as the top conflict hotspot, mainly because Beijing has defined Taiwan as a core interest and China is set on unification with Taiwan.
“And from our perspective, we’re Taiwan’s main security provider. And we’re already seeing this escalation dynamic, and particularly in the last year or so, tend to be really heating up in the Taiwan Strait,” she added.
From China’s point of view, Taiwan is unquestionably fundamental to Beijing’s legitimacy, said David Keegan, a former deputy director of the American Institute in Taiwan.
“From our point of view, it’s fundamental to our values and our role in the Asia-Pacific region. And that’s a recipe for confrontation that we’re both going to have to work very carefully, with Taiwan’s active participation, to avoid,” he said.
Repeated flights of Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) airplanes near Taiwan and Taiwan’s response also pose the risk of an accident, Keegan said.
“In the current environment, that kind of accident probably won’t play out the way the incident did in 2001, where we were able to talk our way down. That really worries me,” he said.
Keegan was referring to a 2001 collision between US and Chinese military aircraft, in which a US surveillance plane made an emergency landing in China after being clipped by a Chinese fighter jet, which crashed, resulting in the death of the pilot.
When asked if Taiwan’s role in the international arena could prompt China to resort to force, Oriana Skylar Mastro, an expert with a focus on Chinese military and security policy issues, said that increasing international space for Taiwan would not increase the risk of conflict.
“Until the PLA, until [Chinese President] Xi Jinping [習近平] is confident that his military can succeed, they’re not going to use force unless ... some major change happens like Taiwan declares independence. And I don’t think increasing international space for Taiwan meets that threshold,” Mastro said.
The hearing was organized by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
LIABILITIES MULLED: New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi said Taipei would find out if the firm was legally registered, the guide was licensed and the weather was assessed The assets of Tian Da Local Nature Co are to be frozen after at least four people died after falling into the Beishi River (北勢溪) on an outing the company had organized on Saturday, the Taipei City Government said yesterday. Six people — two adults and four children — were washed away by a flash flood on the river in New Taipei City’s Hubaotan (虎豹潭) area. They were participating in a Nature Joy Camp outdoor activity with a group of 16 adults and 15 children led by a guide surnamed Su (蘇). As of 4:30pm yesterday, four of the missing had been
Taiwanese worked more hours than people in all but three other countries in the world last year, Ministry of Labor data showed. Singapore placed first in average hours worked among the 40 economies surveyed, with an average of 2,288 hours per worker last year, the data showed. The city-state was followed by Colombia with 2,172 hours — based on 2019 data — and Mexico with 2,124 hours, it showed. Taiwan came in fourth, with 2,021 hours, it showed. South Korean workers clocked the third-most hours in Asia, with 1,908 hours, followed by Japan with 1,598 hours, it showed. However, compared with 2019, the survey found
The US 7th Fleet yesterday confirmed that a US Navy ship transited the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday. “The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Dewey [DDG 105] conducted a Taiwan Strait transit in cooperation with Royal Canadian Navy [RCN] Halifax-class frigate, HMCS Winnipeg, October 14-15, 2021,” the US 7th Fleet said in a statement. “Dewey’s and Winnipeg’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific. Cooperation like this represents the centerpiece of our approach to a secure and prosperous region,” it added. The transit marked the
‘COUNTERPRODUCTIVE’: The German, French and Singaporean missions said that Taiwan’s COVID-19 restrictions are hindering local projects and business operations Several foreign missions in Taiwan have urged the government to ease its strict COVID-19 border controls, which they say are hurting in-person exchanges and business operations. The missions made the appeal in response to media inquiries on how the border controls have affected their respective countries’ exchanges with Taiwan, amid growing concerns voiced privately by Taiwan-based foreign offices and businesses regarding the restrictions. Taiwan has maintained strict entry requirements since March last year, generally prohibiting most arrivals except for citizens and foreign residents, while it has required those who enter the country to undergo a stringent 14-day quarantine. Although the rules have been
RSS