The newly forged reconciliation between former foes the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), a political friendship that is soon to be sealed with the highest-level meeting between the two parties in over 50 years, demonstrates the idiom that your enemy's enemy is your friend, analysts said yesterday.
But in this case, it is unclear whether enemies at home remain enemies abroad, for the opposition parties have been defiant in the face of accusations that they have inappropriately taken state affairs into their own hands. Instead, they claim to be doing what the government has not or cannot do.
In fact, KMT Chairman Lien Chan's (
Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Chinese affairs department director Tung Li-wen (
"For China, all political parties that don't support Taiwanese independence will be rewarded. To what degree ... that's a wild guess," Alexander Huang (
Chao Chien-min (
"The opposition party is limited in what it can do," Chao said.
Despite Lien's role as the main opposition leader, there has been talk of late that Beijing could make some sort of concession on the military front. Tung noted earlier this month that the concession could involve the withdrawal of missiles.
Tung said that such a move would not be unprecedented, citing then Chinese president Jiang Zemin's (
Huang said however, that talk of retracting missiles aimed at Taiwan, if it came up during Lien's visit, would remain just that.
"It'd just be lip service ... there's no verification mechanism. so we would never know [if the missiles were withdrawn]," Huang said, admitting however that the move could earn Beijing credit with Washington. He added that militarily, the removal of the missiles would not make any substantial difference.
Whether the gesture could sway the EU towards lifting its arms embargo against China was unclear.
Chao said that the EU was determined to lift the ban anyway. He said that the EU had only temporarily put off plans to lift the ban in light of Beijing's "Anti-Secession" Law, adding that the ban was going to be trashed sooner or later regardless of whether China withdrew any missiles.
Huang said that it would put the US Department of State in a hard spot, but indicated that it was unclear which way the decision would go with the UK chairing the European Council.
As for whether Lien's "journey of peace" could negatively impact cross-strait relations as the ruling party has charged, analysts said increased interaction between Taiwan and China best served cross-strait relations.
"Because of talk of constitutional reform and referendums, China adopted the Anti-Secession Law ... and then as a result we ban China's correspondents in Taiwan. It's a vicious cycle, and so the more dialogue there is across the Strait the better," Chao said.
Huang added that Beijing knew exactly where it stood with Lien.
"China understands clearly that, no matter how big [the concession], it is only to Lien, to his name, or the KMT. They know the government is in the DPP's hands, and the DPP might not recognize it [the concession]" Huang said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and