Beijing would not give up its military aggression against Taiwan no matter which political party wins the presidential election next month, an Australian academic said on Thursday.
The University of Sydney’s US Studies Centre invited Australian and US academics to join a panel discussion on Taiwan’s presidential election, and its implications for Australia and beyond.
Richard McGregor, a senior fellow for East Asia at the Sydney-based Lowy Institute think tank, said that the presidential election is important, as it “represents the fundamental break between China and Taiwan.”
Photo: CNA
If the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wins the presidency again, it would “undoubtedly” provoke some kind of military response from Beijing, as Chinese officials and academics have told him, McGregor said.
While an invasion is unlikely, China might impose a blockade to “exhibit US impotence,” making the US “look like it’s losing its power and losing its grip,” he said.
If the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) wins, “there will be more carrots” from China, probably including lifting some trade embargoes, and increasing people-to-people and official exchanges, he said.
However, Beijing would not give up its “fundamental aim on unification,” meaning military exercises and coercion “will never go away,” he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) “has been quieter” prior to the election this time compared with the previous one in 2020, when he spoke about how “one country, two systems” in Hong Kong would apply to Taiwan, which backfired and might have contributed to the DPP’s victory, McGregor said.
Beijing has a variety of approaches to exert its influence, such as roping in Taiwanese officials to build grassroots support, economic coercion and disinformation campaigns, he said.
Former US National Security Council senior director for Asian affairs Michael Green said that the US is witnessing the highest-ever level of bipartisan support for Taipei and concern about what Beijing might do.
For Southeast Asian countries, they hope to maintain the “status quo” and avoid conflicts “at all costs,” so they are unlikely to take a strong position on Taiwan’s election, said Lavina Lee, a senior lecturer in Macquarie University’s Department of Security Studies and Criminology.
China has been attempting to “neutralize” Southeast Asian countries, preventing them from getting involved in a Taiwan contingency, Lee said, adding that the efforts have been “quite successful.”
Taiwan building “a strong, robust democracy in such a short period of time” from the ground up is “actually extremely remarkable,” she said, adding that the wishes of Taiwanese should be respected.
Taiwan has come a long way from being ruled by an authoritarian regime under martial law to becoming a beacon of democracy in the Asia-Pacific region, Representative to Australia Douglas Hsu (徐佑典) said.
Taiwanese are willing to do anything to safeguard their democracy, which was born of great sacrifice and is a “way of life,” Hsu said.
“This is our election. This is our democracy,” he said.
Hsu said he believes that whoever wins the presidential election would ensure that Taiwan continues to be a “resilient, free and democratic country,” as well as a responsible global stakeholder.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
The Taiwan Experience Education Program (TEEP) has funded short-term internships in Taiwan for more than 4,500 young people from more than 40 countries since 2015, with the goal of attracting and retaining international talent, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. Fifty-five colleges launched 514 projects this year, including in fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, medicine and biotechnology, green energy, and sustainability, it said. The program provides research and practical internships in Taiwan for two to six months, and offers cultural exchange and networking opportunities, the ministry said. For example, National Formosa University’s Embedded System and Autopilot Laboratory developed two solar-powered drones in
SOVEREIGNTY: The rigs show that Beijing ‘rejects Taiwan’s jurisdiction’ by building in areas where Taipei demands permission to build or alter installations Chinese oil rigs have been sighted just 26 nautical miles (42km), from Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島), posing a threat to Taiwan’s sovereignty if left unchallenged, a brief published by the Jamestown Foundation on Tuesday said. Pratas Island, 444km from Kaohsiung, is northeast of the South China Sea and houses a Taiwanese garrison. The brief, titled “Rigging the Game: PRC Oil Structures Encroach on Taiwan’s Pratas Island” — referring to the People’s Republic of China — analyzed photographs and said that Beijing’s tools to pressure Taiwan now include oil rigs. “Oil rigs now constitute part of Beijing’s
RSS