The dynamics of Taiwan-US relations has changed as both sides are currently not a priority on each other’s agenda, and a reversal of Taiwan’s recent engagement with China is unlikely, a US academic said yesterday.
Robert Sutter, a professor at George Washington University, made the remarks via a teleconference hosted by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).
Sutter added that eroding US support was one of three sets of factors that would ultimately determine Taiwan’s future, along with China’s ever-growing strength and Taiwan’s inherent weakness.
The decline in US support, which has received little attention according to Sutter, is related to Taipei’s rapprochement with Beijing, as well as the fracturing of the Taiwanese lobby in Washington and the increasing cost of US intervention in Taiwanese contingencies.
For the US, China is currently much more important than Taiwan, he said.
Countries in the Asia-Pacific region will also be pleased to see a peaceful resolution between Taiwan and China, he said.
“Internationally, Taiwan recognizes that advances for Taiwan in world affairs now require Beijing’s permission or acquiescence, even on issues as uncontroversial as trade,” he added.
In contrast with calls from the governments of South Korea, Japan, ASEAN, India and other Asia-Pacific countries for the US to play a greater role in the region, he said Taiwan has maintained a low public profile and has been very “discreet” in its engagement with Washington.
And since current political trends of closer cross-strait engagement is so strong, Sutter said, Taiwan will not be able to “go back to the old way” even if there was a regime change.
Taiwan will have to continue its constructive engagement with China and should not go back to the 1995 to 2008 period, during which former presidents Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) left Taiwan with a “negative” legacy, he said.
Several Taiwanese academics disagreed, with Liu Fu-kuo (劉復國), a professor at National Chengchi University, saying that Taiwan does not ask for Chinese permission before making decisions.
Instead, he said, Taiwan has tried to initiate a “Track Two” communication channel through academic exchanges.
Edward Chen (陳一新) of Tamkang University called for more US support, saying that the lack of US assistance has left some with the impression that the US has abandoned Taiwan.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
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
RSS