On June 27, 1950, two days after North Korea invaded the south, US president Harry Truman dispatched the US Seventh Fleet to the Taiwan Strait to protect Taiwan and prevent a Chinese invasion.
That move, 60 years ago, not only set the stage for US assistance to Taiwan over the next two decades but also helped stabilize Taiwan’s economy, allowing it to quickly develop into one of Asia’s fastest growing.
While Taiwan’s military did not participate in the conflict — despite offers to do so by dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) — academics and Korean experts said yesterday in Taipei that it was a defining moment for the country, still under threat at the time from Chinese aggression.
“Originally the US didn’t want to supply Taiwan or Penghu anymore. But the Korean War marked a significant change in US policy,” said Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深), president of the Taiwan Association of University Professors. “The forgotten war ... propped up the Republic of China government-in-exile.”
Following China’s entry into the war in October 1950, the Peoples Liberation Army reorganized its Taiwan invasion force into the Northeast Frontier Force and subsequently into the People’s Volunteer Army which was sent into the Korean peninsula.
“It can be said that the [Korean] conflict was of benefit to Taiwan ... it protected Taiwan from communization due to an invasion from China,” said Rick Chu (朱立熙) a Korean expert and founder of the Taiwan-based Korean Studies Academy.
Six decades later, the Korean War still offers valuable lessons for a burgeoning cross-strait relationship, said Paul Lin (林保華), a political commentator and researcher who specializes in Chinese Communist Party (CCP) history.
After the war, Chinese history books wrote that the US and South Korea, which they said initiated the conflict, lost the war in the face of Chinese participation and suffered millions of casualties, said Lin who grew up in China during the period.
“It was a complete distortion of history. It shows China’s continued willingness to distort history through the media and through [education],” he said. “But some people in Taiwan continue to ignore China’s nature.”
Saying China has never given up its ambitions to unify Taiwan, by force if necessary, Lin added that, “China's danger to Taiwan has not changed one bit.”
“They wanted to [unify] Taiwan through the use of weapons before, but now they want to use the economy … [They want to] trick Taiwan into signing the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.”
This has become increasingly apparent through the offshoring of Taiwanese businesses and industries to China, said William Kao (高為邦), who used to head the Victims of Investment in China Association, a move that could be accelerated by the signing of an ECFA.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data