Questions for the media
The upcoming meeting between Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) and Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) has brought dozens of international reporters to Taiwan.
Over the past five months, I have realized that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) prefers making policy announcements to the international media to facing Taiwanese media, which is why I hope the international media can ask Ma these 10 questions on behalf of the Taiwanese people:
According to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, pandas can only travel in China. When Taiwan accepts two pandas from China, does that imply that the Ma government accepts the notion that Taiwan is part of China? How can he state that he will not budge an inch on sovereignty, but actually take risky action which might give China the wrong impression?
If Ma is the president of Taiwan, and China is another country, international custom dictates that Taiwan should present the national flags of both Taiwan and China during Chen’s visit. So why are hardly any Taiwanese flags being displayed in Taiwan?
If the four agreements to be signed by Chen and Chiang are supported by the majority of Taiwanese, why does the government refuse to grant demonstration and protest rights to the opposition? Ma should not worry about this small group of opposition supporters, right?
The four agreements have not been presented or approved by the Legislative Yuan. If these agreements are for the benefit of Taiwan, why did Ma not present them to the Legislative Yuan? The chair of the Mainland Affairs Council stated that the agreements would be presented to the Legislative Yuan after being signed.
But what would happen if the agreements are rejected by the Legislative Yuan? Why is Ma taking this risk?
Ma stated that he will not sell out Taiwan and that he only wants to sell fruit to China. Doesn’t Ma know that Taiwanese fruit shops in China have closed? Chinese consumers cannot afford it. Expanding shelf life cannot solve this problem.
The Dalai Lama recently said that his faith in China is dwindling. Can Ma identify any concrete proof that China will treat Taiwan differently than Tibet?
In their recent op-ed “Trump Should Rein In Taiwan” in Foreign Policy magazine, Christopher Chivvis and Stephen Wertheim argued that the US should pressure President William Lai (賴清德) to “tone it down” to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait — as if Taiwan’s words are more of a threat to peace than Beijing’s actions. It is an old argument dressed up in new concern: that Washington must rein in Taipei to avoid war. However, this narrative gets it backward. Taiwan is not the problem; China is. Calls for a so-called “grand bargain” with Beijing — where the US pressures Taiwan into concessions
The term “assassin’s mace” originates from Chinese folklore, describing a concealed weapon used by a weaker hero to defeat a stronger adversary with an unexpected strike. In more general military parlance, the concept refers to an asymmetric capability that targets a critical vulnerability of an adversary. China has found its modern equivalent of the assassin’s mace with its high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapons, which are nuclear warheads detonated at a high altitude, emitting intense electromagnetic radiation capable of disabling and destroying electronics. An assassin’s mace weapon possesses two essential characteristics: strategic surprise and the ability to neutralize a core dependency.
Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) said in a politburo speech late last month that his party must protect the “bottom line” to prevent systemic threats. The tone of his address was grave, revealing deep anxieties about China’s current state of affairs. Essentially, what he worries most about is systemic threats to China’s normal development as a country. The US-China trade war has turned white hot: China’s export orders have plummeted, Chinese firms and enterprises are shutting up shop, and local debt risks are mounting daily, causing China’s economy to flag externally and hemorrhage internally. China’s
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) were born under the sign of Gemini. Geminis are known for their intelligence, creativity, adaptability and flexibility. It is unlikely, then, that the trade conflict between the US and China would escalate into a catastrophic collision. It is more probable that both sides would seek a way to de-escalate, paving the way for a Trump-Xi summit that allows the global economy some breathing room. Practically speaking, China and the US have vulnerabilities, and a prolonged trade war would be damaging for both. In the US, the electoral system means that public opinion
RSS