China's rapidly strengthening military power is a matter of concern for Asian nations such as Taiwan and Japan. China is now adding a new fuse to the powder keg -- an anti-secession law, thereby making conflict in the Asia-Pacific region more possible.
During a meeting in Beijing to discuss national defense early this month, the US deputy under secretary of defense for Asia Pacific affairs, Richard Lawless, warned that China is "deliberately creating or raising tension in its relationship with Taiwan."
During a hearing with former CIA Director James Woolsey in the House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee recently, Woolsey included China among the greatest threats to the US, saying that when China is faced with hard-fought domestic issues, Taiwan and the US are its easiest targets. Robert Zoellick, recently appointed deputy secretary of state, has said that the US hopes that the anti-secession legislation issue will not cause China to act against US wishes. The co-chairman of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, Steve Chabot, an Ohio Republican, has also proposed a bill to point out that China's anti-secession legislation will amount to unilateral change in the cross-strait status quo, that it conflicts with long-standing US cross-strait policy, and that the US should express its opposition.
CIA director Porter Goss said to the US Congress "if Beijing decides that Taiwan is taking steps toward a permanent separation that exceeds Beijing's tolerance ... China is prepared to respond with varying levels of force." Also, China's escalating military strength is jeopardizing the cross-strait military balance, and poses a threat to US interests in the region.
The conciliatory atmosphere resulting from the implementation of Lunar New Year charter and cargo flights has blinded Taiwanese to the conflict over the anti-secession law and anti-annexation law. This added tension is not because of democracy in Taiwan, but the lack of it in China. China may well have been going through a transformation under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping (
The purpose of enacting China's anti-secession law is to split Taiwan, dividing a main enemy from a secondary enemy on the island. The "main enemy" are those who espouse Taiwan's independence, while the "secondary enemy" are those who favor independence for the Republic of China (ROC). Beijing will first strike Taiwanese independence activists and then clamp down on ROC independence. This anti-secession law targets Taiwan, with the ultimate goal being to annex the island. People in Taiwan should be psychologically prepared and united in the face of this threat.
Although the anti-secession law is only a domestic law in China, when Beijing signs a joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations with other countries, they are expected to acknowledge, recognize and respect the idea that Taiwan is part of China.
Although China's hackneyed statement is not in accordance with the actual situation, China can still use such diplomatic communiques as a way to acquire support for the anti-secession law in the international community. Taiwan has to respond properly and be prepared for imminent legal and propaganda warfare.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has caused havoc with his attempts to overturn the democratic and constitutional order in the legislature. If we look at this devolution from the context of a transition to democracy from authoritarianism in a culturally Chinese sense — that of zhonghua (中華) — then we are playing witness to a servile spirit from a millennia-old form of totalitarianism that is intent on damaging the nation’s hard-won democracy. This servile spirit is ingrained in Chinese culture. About a century ago, Chinese satirist and author Lu Xun (魯迅) saw through the servile nature of
In their New York Times bestseller How Democracies Die, Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt said that democracies today “may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders. Many government efforts to subvert democracy are ‘legal,’ in the sense that they are approved by the legislature or accepted by the courts. They may even be portrayed as efforts to improve democracy — making the judiciary more efficient, combating corruption, or cleaning up the electoral process.” Moreover, the two authors observe that those who denounce such legal threats to democracy are often “dismissed as exaggerating or
Monday was the 37th anniversary of former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) death. Chiang — a son of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who had implemented party-state rule and martial law in Taiwan — has a complicated legacy. Whether one looks at his time in power in a positive or negative light depends very much on who they are, and what their relationship with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is. Although toward the end of his life Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law and steered Taiwan onto the path of democratization, these changes were forced upon him by internal and external pressures,
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
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