This week’s meetings between Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and the top echelons of the US government risk undermining the interests of Taiwan as its government has become indifferent to notions of sovereignty and security, experts told a press conference yesterday.
Hu, who departed Beijing for Washington yesterday to attend a three-day state visit, is scheduled to meet with US President Barack Obama today.
Former envoy to the US Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) told a press conference held by Taiwan Brain Trust that he expected Hu would take the -opportunity to reiterate the US-China joint statement signed in November 2009 during Obama’s visit to Beijing.
“As the joint statement has caused major harm to Taiwan, there is no doubt that the [Obama-Hu meeting] will again undermine the interests of Taiwan,” said Wu, a research fellow at National Chengchi University’s Institute of International Relations.
The joint statement, in which the US and China “reaffirmed the fundamental principle of respecting each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and “the US encourages both sides of the Taiwan Strait to increase dialogue and interaction in economic, political and other fields,” violated the US Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the six promises Washington made to Taiwan, Wu said.
China mentions the joint statement on every occasion to claim unilaterally that its sovereignty over Taiwan is supported by the US, while President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has made no effort to push the US to reaffirm the TRA and its six promises, Wu said.
Although the Ma administration has repeatedly told the US that Taiwan will not sacrifice its relations with it while developing closer ties with China, that promise sounds like “lip service” to a lot of people, Wu said.
That the Ma administration did not take issue with the joint statement, deferred payment on the purchase of six Patriot anti-missile batteries and accepted the “1992 consensus” as defined by Li Yafei (李亞飛), deputy chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, all “left too much room for our friends in the US to worry about,” Wu said.
York Chen (陳文政), an associate professor at the Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies at Tamkang University and a former National Security Council official, said it was concerning that the Chinese military buildup did not cause any alarm in the Ma administration, while neighboring countries are already closely monitoring the situation.
“The Chinese J-20 stealth fighter is meant to be used as a first-strike force against Taiwan. Japan is not its target, nor is Guam. However, the Ma administration was unable to get hold of any information beforehand and had no reaction to its test flight,” Chen said.
Liu Shih-chung (劉世忠), a researcher at the think tank, said the government should take seriously remarks recently made by US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in Beijing that the US might re-examine its Taiwan policy under certain circumstances.
‘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 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
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
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
RSS