The pair of cuddly panda bears hand-picked by the Chinese government as gifts for Taiwan have become a most effective propaganda tool in the war for hearts and minds. Chinese officials must be congratulating each other on a job well done, for they could never have hoped to create such fierce internal division in Taiwan by targeting the nation with missiles -- a tactic which is far more costly and also damaging to the image of the Chinese government.
The overwhelming success of the ploy was amply demonstrated by the press conference held by China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) on Friday. The event almost felt like a mixture of an Academy Awards ceremony and a Christmas party, with enthusiastic press coverage, suspense over which two lucky pandas had been picked from the list of finalists, distribution of souvenir pins, laughter and a generally festive atmosphere. Even TAO officials, usually notable only for their harsh comments about "Taiwan's splittist activities," reveled in the collective role of Santa Claus.
This naturally puts the Taiwanese government in an extremely embarrassing position. Obviously, a large segment -- if not a majority -- of the public would be sympathetic to the pan-blue argument that there can be no harm in accepting a pair of cuddly pandas.
Although the press conference held simultaneously by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday to condemn the gift as "unification propaganda" spoke the simple truth, it is inevitable that the MAC will be perceived as cold-hearted by a lot of people. Taiwan -- which is typically on the receiving end of Chinese abuse in the cross-strait relationship -- was seen to be the one dishing it out this time around.
One cannot help but feel that the government underestimated the "soft power" of the panda strategy and failed to carry out damage control. It is not as if they didn't have any warning.
Talk of China making Taiwan a gift of a pair of pandas as a symbol of "peace" and "unity" began during former Chinese Nationalist Party chairman Lien Chan's (
In all the excitement, a lot of people seem to have forgotten that even if the considerable political problem is somehow overlooked, accepting this gift is not as simple as it seems. Matters of Taiwanese and international law pertaining to the importing and exporting of endangered species cannot be ignored simply because the pandas are a gift from China. The public needs to be aware that these more mundane concerns -- not just the political ones -- could lead to the pandas being rejected. However, after the MAC's poorly orchestrated press conference on Friday, few may be willing to accept this.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House has offered Taiwan a paradoxical mix of reassurance and risk. Trump’s visceral hostility toward China could reinforce deterrence in the Taiwan Strait. Yet his disdain for alliances and penchant for transactional bargaining threaten to erode what Taiwan needs most: a reliable US commitment. Taiwan’s security depends less on US power than on US reliability, but Trump is undermining the latter. Deterrence without credibility is a hollow shield. Trump’s China policy in his second term has oscillated wildly between confrontation and conciliation. One day, he threatens Beijing with “massive” tariffs and calls China America’s “greatest geopolitical
On Sunday, 13 new urgent care centers (UCC) officially began operations across the six special municipalities. The purpose of the centers — which are open from 8am to midnight on Sundays and national holidays — is to reduce congestion in hospital emergency rooms, especially during the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year. It remains to be seen how effective these centers would be. For one, it is difficult for people to judge for themselves whether their condition warrants visiting a major hospital or a UCC — long-term public education and health promotions are necessary. Second, many emergency departments acknowledge
US President Donald Trump’s seemingly throwaway “Taiwan is Taiwan” statement has been appearing in headlines all over the media. Although it appears to have been made in passing, the comment nevertheless reveals something about Trump’s views and his understanding of Taiwan’s situation. In line with the Taiwan Relations Act, the US and Taiwan enjoy unofficial, but close economic, cultural and national defense ties. They lack official diplomatic relations, but maintain a partnership based on shared democratic values and strategic alignment. Excluding China, Taiwan maintains a level of diplomatic relations, official or otherwise, with many nations worldwide. It can be said that
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) made the astonishing assertion during an interview with Germany’s Deutsche Welle, published on Friday last week, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a dictator. She also essentially absolved Putin of blame for initiating the war in Ukraine. Commentators have since listed the reasons that Cheng’s assertion was not only absurd, but bordered on dangerous. Her claim is certainly absurd to the extent that there is no need to discuss the substance of it: It would be far more useful to assess what drove her to make the point and stick so
RSS