The cross-strait missile crisis that began in 1996 is far from over as peace in the Taiwan Strait is still imperiled by China's continuing military buildup, Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday.
"China's perpetual military buildup has complicated the already volatile cross-strait situation and seriously threatened regional peace," he said. "While some people debate whether to accept China's offer of pandas or to cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party, China's military buildup is an issue that deserves serious attention from both the public and international community."
Wu made the comments while attending a forum in Taipei yesterday to mark the 10th anniversary of the 1996 missile crisis.
Beijing began a campaign of intimidation between June 1995 and March 1996 in reaction to the US giving a visa to former president Lee Teng-hui (
On March 8, 1996, Beijing launched an eight-day live fire drill in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to intimidate Taiwanese voters.
Wu said the government will continue to extend goodwill gestures to Beijing in the hope of seeking reconciliation, cooperation and peace in the Strait despite Beijing's indifference.
The government will continue to promote democratic reform and safeguard the status quo in the Strait, he said. It will also push for China's democratization and the establishment of a new balance of power in the Strait on the basis of democracy and peace, he said.
Wu said Taiwan has transformed itself into a democratic country over the past decade, while China continues to be run by an authoritarian regime which resorts to military might to settle disputes.
Even though Beijing's fundamental Taiwan policy has remained the same over the past decade, Wu said there have been changes.
First, he said, the "rise of China" has fueled tension in the Taiwan Strait and threatened safety in the Asia-Pacific region.
Second, Beijing has made aggressive attempts to change the status quo in the Strait since it passed the "Anti-Secession" Law last March. The legislation, he said, reflects the true nature of China's "non-peaceful rise" and has helped convince the international community that China is a threat to regional peace.
Third, Beijing has let its political maneuvering dictate cross-strait exchanges and interactions, he said. Instead of conducting talks with the duly elected Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, China has courted the pro-unification opposition with the aim of defining cross-strait exchanges as a "domestic affair," he said.
Meanwhile, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Tsai Ming-hsien (
"It has been 10 years since the 1996 cross-strait missile crisis took place and one year since China enacted the `Anti-Secession' Law, but what we see is Beijing's increasingly tougher stance despite our efforts to push for peace and democracy in the Taiwan Strait," Tsai said at the forum.
He urged the opposition parties to pass the long-stalled arms procurement package.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
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