Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons.
The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said.
That reassured Taiwan, the person said.
Photo: Bloomberg
Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about sensitive issues.
China considers Taiwan part of its own territory, so international laws do not factor into its calculations, the person said.
What Beijing lacks is capability, not precedent, they added.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
For decades, the US — Taiwan’s top weapons supplier — has been a restraining force on Chinese aggression, with the risk of sanctions and US military action looming over any invasion. While Trump has held off saying whether the US would defend Taipei from any attack by Beijing, last month he approved an US$11.1 billion weapons package for Taiwan — one of its largest-ever deals.
By contrast, Venezuela is the biggest buyer of Chinese weapons in South America, with sales totaling US$495 million in the decade ending 2020, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
That was only topped by Russia, which supplied Caracas with 60 percent of its imported arms during that period.
“The level of sophistication of US equipment, compared with the weapons Venezuela obtained from Russia and China, was fully exposed in this operation,” Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told lawmakers at the Legislative Yuan yesterday.
“Venezuela’s problem is not just which country its weapons came from — the most critical issue is maintenance,” Hsu added.
Trump’s stunning late-night operation saw more than 150 US aircraft sweep into Venezuela, after the US neutralized the South American country’s air defenses. US forces then grabbed Maduro and his wife from a military base, and spirited them away by helicopter to a warship en route for trial in New York.
That Venezuela’s military power was dismantled within hours by US forces would give Beijing plenty to think about, a separate senior national security official in Taiwan said.
The bullish sentiment among Taiwanese officials — who have reason to talk up their position — contrasts with nationalist sentiment sweeping Chinese social media, where users said the strike offered a template for how Beijing could handle tensions with Taiwan.
On Taiwanese social media, opinions were divided. Some expressed concern the developments in Venezuela could embolden Beijing, while others voiced optimism that the episode signaled a tougher US stance toward countries with close ties to China and Russia and could prompt Washington to focus more on the Indo-Pacific region.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
RSS