China’s demarcation of an East China Sea air defense identification zone (ADIZ) that includes the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) is a clear act of expansionism that risks destabilizing the Asia-Pacific region and the world’s failure to take substantial actions will only embolden China to launch military aggression against its neighbors, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.
At the instruction of DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), DPP Policy Research Committee executive director Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), International Affairs Department director Liu Shih-chung (劉世忠), China Affairs Department director Hung Tsai-lung (洪財隆) and former National Security Council (NSC) consultant York Chen (陳文政) made the remark at a press conference in Taipei yesterday morning.
The party issued three demands to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration: that the government lodge a stern protest against China’s unilateral declaration of the ADIZ in an attempt to challenge the “status quo” in the region; that it maintain close contact with concerned allies to work out a plan for cooperative efforts and pay close attention to the matter; and that it work to ensure uninterrupted patrols by Taiwan’s fighter jets and naval vessels in the nation’s own ADIZ in waters off northeastern Taiwan and take substantial measures to defend the nation’s sovereignty and national security.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
China’s unilateral demarcation of the ADIZ, which overlaps that of Taiwan’s and Japan’s, not only runs counter to international norms, but also underlines its apparent attempt to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the region, Wu said.
“Such an action may escalate tensions and seriously jeopardize the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. The DPP solemnly remonstrates against such irresponsible and provocative behavior and demands that China immediately retract its ADIZ announcement,” Wu said.
Wu said history had shown that weakness only breeds more aggressive expansion and costs nations more dearly afterward.
“Forty-eight hours have passed [since China’s ADIZ announcement on Saturday]. However, the Ma administration’s responses to the matter have remained unbelievably feeble, with the National Security Council voicing concerns and the Ministry of National Defense expressing regret,” Wu said.
“The government’s failure to lodge a protest or issue a condemnation of China’s behavior constitutes a serious dereliction of duty, and the party is extremely disappointed,” Wu said.
Wu said the party expressed support for US Secretary of State John Kerry’s condemnation of China for initiating a “unilateral action that constitutes an attempt to change the status quo in the East China Sea” and to US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s reiteration of the US’ commitment to defend its Asian allies in case of a conflict.
“The DPP is also willing to join hands with its international partners to safeguard peace and stability in the region,” Wu said.
Separately, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) said the government has been in contact with the US and Japan over China’s ADIZ announcement.
“We have expressed our hopes that all parties concerned will resolve disputes through peaceful dialogue to maintain regional peace and stability,” Lin said on the sidelines of a hearing of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
However, he declined to go into detail when asked about the contents of talks with the US and Japan over China’s ADIZ demarcation.
Lin said that the communications were mainly aimed at expressing Taiwan’s hope that territorial disputes would be settled via peaceful dialogue.
“This is the most important principle that should prevail,” Lin said.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but