Former representative to the US Chen Chien-jen (
The EU actually vetoed the cancelation of the arms ban by a vote of 14 to 1 last December. However, backed by France, China is likely to win the gradual support of Germany, Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands. This year, Beijing has decided to stage a comeback, and to aggressively strive for the support of EU member states.
We must keep an eye on the Dutch presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of this year, and developments once Portugal's former prime minister Jose Manuel Barroso officially begins his five-year term as the president of the European Commission in November. In fact, the Dutch presidency already announced the inclusion in its priority agenda of new discussions on whether to withdraw the weapons ban on China.
In Europe, China has manipulated this issue for years and has won increased support. In Asia, Beijing also canceled its planned military exercises on Dongshan Island this month, adopting a tactic of expressing superficial goodwill to win greater European support. The withdrawal was certainly not an isolated incident in Asia. Rather, it was a part of China's global positioning as it continues to strengthen its military capacity.
But China's recent oppression of Taiwan shows Beijing's true colors. During this year's annual World Health Assembly meeting in Geneva from May 17 to 21, China continued to treat Taiwan as an enemy. It even strengthened efforts to block our participation in international affairs, and to prevent the Taiwanese people from obtaining the most basic right to health care.
Therefore, we should pay close attention to the other motives behind Beijing's cancelation of military drills -- especially its ultimate strategic goal of lobbying EU member states to lift the ban. If China is able to easily acquire advanced military technologies from Europe, peace and stability in east Asia will be severely damaged.
At present, China is the aggressor in the military confrontation across the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan is the one being threatened. Amid the continued domestic power struggles between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, we often forget that a powerful and authoritarian China is ready to annex Taiwan by force at any time. Taiwan called off the annual Han Kuang military exercise to lower regional tensions out of goodwill. But both President Chen Shui-bian (
Moreover, we must remind our friends in the EU that the reason for the ban -- to protest Beijing's crackdown on democracy and human rights during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre -- has not disappeared. Not to mention that the Chinese government is notorious for oppressing the Falun Gong religion, restricting democracy and freedom in Hong Kong and cracking down on Chinese dissidents.
French President Jacques Chirac will visit China next month and the EU will begin its various working meetings this month. I hereby urge the Taiwanese government and people to pay close attention to these related issues, as well as to the possible damage to Taiwan. Above all, we must mobilize our European friends to oppose the removal of the EU's arms embargo on China.
Wu Chih-chung is the secretary-general of the European Union Study Association-Taiwan, and an assistant professor in the department of political science at Soochow University.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought renewed scrutiny to the Taiwan-US semiconductor relationship with his claim that Taiwan “stole” the US chip business and threats of 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made processors. For Taiwanese and industry leaders, understanding those developments in their full context is crucial while maintaining a clear vision of Taiwan’s role in the global technology ecosystem. The assertion that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry fundamentally misunderstands the evolution of global technology manufacturing. Over the past four decades, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has grown through legitimate means
Today is Feb. 28, a day that Taiwan associates with two tragic historical memories. The 228 Incident, which started on Feb. 28, 1947, began from protests sparked by a cigarette seizure that took place the day before in front of the Tianma Tea House in Taipei’s Datong District (大同). It turned into a mass movement that spread across Taiwan. Local gentry asked then-governor general Chen Yi (陳儀) to intervene, but he received contradictory orders. In early March, after Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) dispatched troops to Keelung, a nationwide massacre took place and lasted until May 16, during which many important intellectuals
RSS