The economic reform that started in 1978 has helped China to greatly enhance its overall national strength. Not only is China now the world's biggest factory, it is also the world's fastest-growing economy.
With its booming economy and the concept of "peaceful rising," proposed by President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), Beijing is pushing its superpower diplomacy as a means of broadening its influence all over the world. However, China's growing economy cannot obscure its military expansion, which is a potential threat to the security of Taiwan, to the Asia-Pacific region and even to world peace.
China constantly claims that its peaceful rising is not only in line with a new world trend toward peaceful development, but is also beneficial to deepening regional cooperation and will bring greater benefits to the international community.
This claim is used to quell a growing sense of unease among countries in the Asia-Pacific region who think that China, with its growing political and economic power, and large-scale military expansion is trying to become a regional hegemon. China has deployed more than 600 ballistic missiles in coastal areas targeting Taiwan. Furthermore, the Pentagon's annual report on China's military power last year pointed out that China's military expansion poses a threat to stability across the Taiwan Strait and even in the Asia-Pacific region, from Japan to the South China Sea.
Japan is not only concerned about the fact that China is enhancing itself militarily, but recently also discovered an intrusion into its territorial waters by a Chinese submarine. All the above seem to indicate that China's "peaceful rising" is nothing more than a hoax.
With the globalization of the economy and a world of increasing pluralization, peace and development form the foundation for improving the lives of people all over the world. In other words, the aim of economic development is to enhance people's living conditions and shape a modern society that espouses democracy, freedom, the rule of law and human rights.
The benefits of economic development should not be used to prolong the lifespan of corrupt bureaucracies that exercise authoritarian rule and trample on human rights and freedoms domestically, while internationally presenting themselves as a military superpower, threatening neighboring countries and destabilizing the region through military expansion.
The community of liberal democracies is an international environment in which conflicts can be resolved and peaceful coexistence maintained.
Conversely, if China, with its improving economic situation, continues to be anti-democratic and disregards domestic human rights, it will definitely become a source of upheaval in the Asia-Pacific region, rather than a stabilizing force for development.
Chen Lung-chih is the chairman of the Taiwan New Century Foundation.
TRANSLATED BY DANIEL CHENG
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 is systematically dismantling the network of multilateral institutions, organizations and agreements that have helped prevent a third world war for more than 70 years. Yet many governments are twisting themselves into knots trying to downplay his actions, insisting that things are not as they seem and that even if they are, confronting the menace in the White House simply is not an option. Disagreement must be carefully disguised to avoid provoking his wrath. For the British political establishment, the convenient excuse is the need to preserve the UK’s “special relationship” with the US. Following their White House
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
RSS