A French national television network on Sunday aired a documentary highlighting China's expansionist ambitions in the South China Sea and how Taiwan and the Philippines are responding to the "unprecedented" threat.
The 80-minute documentary titled Red Alert in the South China Sea (Alerte rouge en mer de Chine) and which aired on the privately owned TV channel M6 said that "the threat of invasion is unprecedented" and Taiwan has entered "a long-term state of alert, with people actively preparing for a potential attack."
It also said that more than 80 percent of Taiwanese oppose unification with Beijing, and that "independence" is the consensus view.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
The documentary said that Beijing's desire to annex Taiwan is driven by history and "nationalism," as well as the geopolitical goal of securing unimpeded access to the Pacific Ocean.
The filmmakers interviewed several Taiwanese figures, including Major General Tung Chi-hsing (董冀星), director of the Ministry of National Defense’s joint operations planning division, who said that China's threat to Taiwan is "increasing."
The documentary showed satellite images of scale replicas of the Presidential Office Building and surrounding streets in Taipei that the Chinese government has built in Inner Mongolia, apparently to train ground forces for a potential decapitation strike against Taiwan's democratically elected leadership.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Department of International Affairs director Alexander Huang (黃介正) was also quoted in the film as saying that his party tries to maintain communication with Beijing as Taiwan is "not ready for war."
Taiwan needs to buy time to reform the military, acquire new weaponry and conduct training, Huang said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS