Chinese President Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤) state visit to the US next week could run into more problems after 17 Taiwanese-American organizations said they would hold demonstrations in front of the White House as Hu meets US President Barack Obama to protest repression in Tibet and East Turkestan and “threats and intimidation” against Taiwan.
At the same time, just up Pennsylvania Avenue on Capitol Hill, the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs will meet under its new chairwoman, Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, for what promises to be extremely critical hearings on “China’s behavior and its impact on US interests.”
Added to that, the front pages of major US newspapers have been dominated by stories about the unexpected testing of China’s new J-20 stealth fighter this week amid speculation that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is acting independently of the civilian leadership.
All of this could add up to a very difficult and even embarrassing two-day visit to Washington for Hu.
While his itinerary is being kept under close wraps, it is understood that he will fly into Andrews Air Force Base near Washington on Tuesday and stay at Blair House, across the street from the White House.
He will attend a private dinner in the White House that night and the next day he will hold talks with Obama. Hu is next scheduled to attend a lunch at the State Department before returning to Blair House, where he will receive members of US Congress and the media before touring the new Chinese embassy complex. Another dinner will be held at the White House later that evening.
On Thursday, Hu will meet Chinese Americans before leaving for Chicago.
The Taiwanese-American group that plan to protest Hu’s visit sent a letter to Obama appealing for the White House to reaffirm the US’ support for “freedom, democracy and human rights in Taiwan.”
“We ask you to prod China to dismantle its 1,600 missiles targeted at Taiwan and renounce the threat or use of force against Taiwan. We also implore you to impress upon the Chinese delegation that it is essential to end Taiwan’s international political isolation,” the letter says.
Formosan Association for Public Affairs president Bob Yang (楊英育), the main organizer of the protests and initiator of the joint letter, said: “We want to emphasize that Taiwan was never part of the PRC [People’s Republic of China] and that the PRC has no basis whatsoever to claim sovereignty over Taiwan.”
Hu’s trip comes at a time when US-China relations are under great strain because of Beijing’s economic and military policies.
At a briefing on Wednesday, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen was asked by a Taiwanese journalist about China’s testing of the J-20 stealth fighter earlier this week when US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was visiting Beijing.
“China is investing in very high-end, high-tech capabilities. And the question that is always out there is to try to understand exactly why,” Mullen said.
“The Chinese are not 10 feet tall. What I have not been able to crack is the why on some of these capabilities they are developing. Many of these capabilities seem to be focused very specifically on the United States,” he said.
It now seems certain that Hu will face some difficult questions while he is in Washington about the expansion of the Chinese military.
The Washington Post said the testing of the J-20 was “a blunt demonstration” of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) willingness to challenge both the US and China’s president.
“It was a clear statement that although Hu might want Gates in China to burnish his legacy as a steward of solid ties with Washington before he steps down next year, the military has a different view,” the newspaper said.
“Making matters worse for Hu, when Gates queried him about the 15-minute flight, it appeared to him that the PLA had kept word of the test from China’s president and all other Chinese civilians at the meeting,” the Post said.
“The PLA has wrong-footed China’s civilians before, but has never so publicly embarrassed Hu,” the paper 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
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS