Likening the military might of Taiwan and China to a grasshopper and a rooster, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said although Taiwan could be a powerful grasshopper, the best strategy was not to provoke the rooster but to prevent it from taking any reckless action.
Ma made the remarks during a round-table forum with Red Cross Society of the Republic of China head C.V. Chen (陳長文), Global Views Monthly cofounder Charles Kao (高希均) and writers Liu Ke-shiang (劉克襄) and Wang Wen-hua (王文華) at the Presidential Office on Monday.
The closed-door meeting was organized by the Chinese-language United Daily News and access to other media outlets was denied. Details of the meeting were published in the newspaper yesterday.
The paper quoted Ma as citing Chinese philosopher Mencius (孟子), who Ma said wrote that the best way for two countries to get along was for the smaller country to be smart and flexible in dealing with the bigger one, and the bigger country generous and kind and not to browbeat its smaller counterpart.
During the 90-minute talk, Ma praised his cross-strait and foreign policies, saying he was inspired by a US guest who lamented that his country helped the Chinese fight the Japanese in the 20th century, then worked with the Japanese to fight the Chinese and now works with both so they do not have to take sides, the paper said.
“I believe that we on both sides of the Taiwan Strait can do the same and do not have to force our friends to take sides,” the report quoted Ma as saying.
Ma said he did not consult with Beijing about his “diplomatic truce” policy before he announced it, but China accepted it.
The policy benefited both Taiwan and China because they no longer need to waste money on trying to lure away the other’s diplomatic allies, allowing the two sides to coexist peacefully, Ma was quoted as saying.
Citing Sun Tzu’s (孫子) The Art of War, Ma said the supreme art of war was to subdue the enemy without ever raising a weapon.
“If we can make good use of our resources, astuteness and diplomacy, we can protect the country in a peaceful way,” he said. “Why do we even want to resort to the worst plan of starting a war?”
The daily also reported that Ma acknowledged the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) poses risks, but added that he had a remedy for such problems.
Ma said the pact would present three difficulties: market competition risks, economic reliance on China and returning political favors.
To address these problems, it was important to strengthen the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, upgrade the value of key products, prevent political language and create cross-strait equality and reciprocity, he said, without elaborating.
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
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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.
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