Open letter to Obama
To US President Barack Obama,
As the president of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, a Taiwanese-American grassroots organization that promotes freedom, human rights and democracy in Taiwan, I write to relay to you the concerns of Taiwanese-Americans.
As you prepare to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to the White House, we appeal to you to reaffirm US support for freedom, democracy and human rights in Taiwan.
We understand that the US needs to engage China.
However, such engagement should not come at the expense of US core values — freedom, democracy and human rights.
Taiwanese have developed a vibrant democracy, and the nation is looking forward to presidential and legislative elections in January next year, which will likely see the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) gain power.
In the past few months, China has threatened “consequences” if the DPP wins.
We believe this interference in Taiwan’s internal affairs is unwarranted and urge you to prevail on Xi to accept Taiwan as a friendly neighbor and move toward normalized relations with its democratically elected government.
We ask that you remind Xi that it is of core interest to the US that Beijing’s interactions with Taiwan be resolved peacefully and with the express consent of Taiwanese.
We also urge you to refrain from proffering US respect for China’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity” as China’s claims to Taiwan’s sovereignty are unjustified.
We ask that you impress upon Xi that Beijing needs to dismantle its 1,600 missiles aimed at Taiwan, and renounce any use of force.
To safeguard Taiwan is to embrace freedom, democracy and human rights.
This is the best way to maintain peace and stability in Asia and is consistent with the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.
Finally, it is essential that China end Taiwan’s international political isolation.
This is a peace-loving nation that is able and willing to carry out UN Charter obligations. Taiwan deserves an equal place in the international family of nations, and Taiwanese should be fully represented in international organizations such as the UN and the WHO.
Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you on these matters that are so important to our Taiwanese-American community.
Sincerely yours,
Mark Kao
President, Formosan Association for Public Affairs
Government chips are down
When China unilaterally announced that it was introducing its new integrated-chip “Taiwan compatriot travel document” on Monday, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesperson Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) brought out all the cliches, saying that, “compatriots on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are all one big family,” that the new card was meant to “further simplify cross-strait exchanges between compatriots” and that there had been no changes to its functionality.
When Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) said that there had not been sufficient talks about the implications of the card, but that the spokesperson’s explanation “removed the doubts that many people have had,” it was clear that Beijing was leading Hsia by the nose.
Incomprehensibly, during a question-and-answer session in the legislature, Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said that he only found out about the announcement when he read it in the newspaper.
He said that China cannot make major unilateral announcements when decisions are pending, adding that Taiwan has not ruled out calling an international press conference to address the issue.
The council said that Beijing gave Taiwan an explanation in June, and that it also informed the council several days ago, but authorities felt they should have been given more detailed information.
Since there was “intelligence information,” why not ask the premier and the president to gain an understanding of that information before they start yapping like dogs?
It seems this administration is completely useless.
Chi An-hsiu
Taipei
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
As an American living in Taiwan, I have to confess how impressed I have been over the years by the Chinese Communist Party’s wholehearted embrace of high-speed rail and electric vehicles, and this at a time when my own democratic country has chosen a leader openly committed to doing everything in his power to put obstacles in the way of sustainable energy across the board — and democracy to boot. It really does make me wonder: “Are those of us right who hold that democracy is the right way to go?” Has Taiwan made the wrong choice? Many in China obviously
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
About 6.1 million couples tied the knot last year, down from 7.28 million in 2023 — a drop of more than 20 percent, data from the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs showed. That is more serious than the precipitous drop of 12.2 percent in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the saying goes, a single leaf reveals an entire autumn. The decline in marriages reveals problems in China’s economic development, painting a dismal picture of the nation’s future. A giant question mark hangs over economic data that Beijing releases due to a lack of clarity, freedom of the press