Beijing is expected to further constrict Taiwan’s international space by intervening in the nation’s relations with key players in the international community, following a government restructuring that is expected to be approved by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at its annual meeting tomorrow.
Using “salami tactics” — a divide-and-conquer process of using threats and alliances to overcome opposition — China is expected to focus more on influencing Taiwan’s relations with key international players, such as the US, while continuing to conduct military drills near Taiwan, court its diplomatic allies and ramp up military and economic pressure on the nation, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported yesterday.
While it is unclear how the restructuring would affect China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) and other agencies responsible for Beijing’s Taiwan policy, former Chinese ambassador to the UN Liu Jieyi (劉結一) is expected to play a role, the newspaper said.
Photo: AFP
Liu is TAO deputy chairman.
The restructuring is aimed at pressuring the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration into acknowledging the so-called “1992 consensus,” experts said.
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Photo: CNA
“Beijing has made it clear that Tsai has to give a satisfactory explanation for the ‘1992 consensus,’ otherwise Beijing will not pull any punches,” the Post quoted Xiamen University Taiwan affairs professor Ji Ye as saying.
China’s poaching of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies is likely to continue, “because neither Beijing nor Taipei show any inclination toward changing their policies,” Ji said.
Meanwhile, experts said that Beijing’s increasing diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan is likely to backfire.
Beijing could conduct more military drills around Taiwan and steal more of its diplomatic allies, but contrary to their goals, this would only further alienate Taiwanese and stir up anti-China sentiment, Center for Strategic and International Studies senior adviser for Asia Bonnie Glasser said.
At the very least, Beijing wants to “seriously undermine” President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration and “torpedo” her re-election prospects in 2020, RAND Corp senior defense analyst Derek Grossman said. “I believe this effort will backfire in the long run, because the Taiwanese people will see China in an increasingly negative light.”
Meanwhile, the CCP’s fourth-ranked leader, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Yu Zhengsheng (俞正聲), yesterday said that China wants to “deepen its friendship with Taiwan.”
The remarks came a day after Chinese state media said Beijing could go to war over Taiwan if a US bill promoting closer ties with Taiwan becomes law.
China has been infuriated over the bill, telling Taiwan on Friday it would get burned if it relied on foreigners, adding to the warnings from state media about the risk of war.
The legislation, which only needs the US president’s signature to become law, says it should be US policy to allow officials at all levels to travel to Taiwan to meet their counterparts, permit high-level Taiwanese officials to enter the US “under respectful conditions” and meet with US officials.
Yu put on a friendlier face at the opening session of a largely ceremonial advisory body to the legislature that he heads, making no direct mention of the bill.
“We will deepen solidarity and friendship with our compatriots in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, as well as overseas Chinese,” Yu told about 2,000 delegates to the conference in Beijing.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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