President Chen Shui-bian (
In a national day speech in Taipei on Wednesday, Chen said: "The international community should not, in fear of China's military might, demand that Taiwan keep quiet. Nor should it, out of concern for commercial interests, turn a blind eye to China's military intimidation and diplomatic suppression of Taiwan, or to its united front economic warfare against Taiwan."
Those remarks seemed directed at US President George W. Bush because in the next breath Chen reminded listeners gathered before the presidential office building that Bush had said: "Free nations are peaceful nations, free nations do not threaten their neighbors, and free nations offer their citizens a hopeful vision for the future."
Turning his attention to China Chen demanded that Beijing "immediately withdraw missiles deployed along its southeastern coast and targeted at Taiwan, stop military exercises simulating attacks on Taiwan, abolish its so-called anti-secession law, and accelerate political and democratic reforms."
To underscore his point, Chen had the nation's armed forces parade on National Day for the first time in 16 years and included trucks hauling Hsiung Feng III (Brave Wind III) missiles.
These new missiles are capable of hitting Chinese warships in the Taiwan Strait, Chinese ports, or some of the 1,000 or so Chinese missiles deployed across the strait and aimed at Taiwan.
The National Day celebration marks the overthrow of China's last imperial dynasty, in 1911. The military parade was traditional until 1991 when it was called off in an effort to ease tensions with China.
Officials of the Bush administration recently have publicly urged and privately demanded that Chen tone down the rhetoric and actions that Washington considers provocative. Washington has repeatedly asserted that it wants the "status quo" maintained between Taiwan and China, with neither side ratcheting up threats against the other.
Until this week, Chen's government had indicated that it would heed Washington's admonitions.
Officials in Taipei had indicated they understood that, ultimately, Taiwan's continued existence separate from China depended on the US being willing to use its military power to defend Taiwan.
Chen, however, has made clear he will have none of it.
"Taiwan and the People's Republic of China are two sovereign, independent nations, and neither exercises jurisdiction over the other. This is a historical fact. This is the status quo across the Taiwan Strait," he said.
The Bush administration particularly deplored Chen's recent request that the nation be admitted to the UN as Taiwan since that would aggravate Beijing.
The application was denied but Chen said: "Our quest to gain entry into the UN will not be abandoned simply because of momentary setbacks. The Government of Taiwan will continue to pursue that goal with unwavering determination."
The State Department, perhaps taken aback by Chen's bold remarks, had no immediate comment. Similarly, no comment came right away from Beijing's official Xinhua news agency.
In Tokyo, however, the chief Cabinet secretary and spokesman for the government, Nobutaka Machimura, cautioned: "It will not help to take actions that would strengthen military tensions."
Behind Chen's strong words, said longtime Asia hands, was a desire to help Democratic Progressive Party presidential nominee Frank Hsieh (
Taiwan-US relations will most likely continue to be rocky so long as Chen is in office, according to a study by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which prides itself on its non-partisan and apolitical assessments.
The CRS pointed to "mistrust between the Bush and Chen administrations, mixed bilateral messages, [and] a decline in the extent to which Taiwan is willing to fulfill US expectations about its own self-defense."
The analysis also noted "the fragmentation of the once powerful Taiwan lobby" in the US, a perceived declining role for Congress, and the sheer volatility of Taiwan's domestic politics.
Richard Halloran is a writer based in Hawaii.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017