A US expert on China is warning that there is growing unease in Taiwan over the speed and breadth of expanding cross-strait economic relations.
“There are real security concerns that Taiwan needs to take seriously,” said John Garver, professor of international affairs at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
In an interview published on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Asian Research, Garver discussed cross-strait relations and the impact of the Sunflower movement on Taiwan and on Chinese perceptions about Taiwan.
Having analyzed what has happened to Ukraine — especially Crimea — he said that he is “absolutely confident” that if Beijing decides to move against Taiwan, it will first initiate the emergence of local groups calling for Chinese involvement.
“This will cause cleavages and fissures within Taiwan about this new era in cross-strait relations,” he said.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has made “impressive” progress in relations with the mainland, but he has failed to establish an adequate consensus-building process because of political difficulties, Garver said.
“Taiwan needs to consider this very seriously within the rubric of internal security,” he said.
“Chinese involvement with Taiwan’s airline industry, telecommunications industry and other strategic sectors has considerable national security implications,” Garver said.
“Taiwan has moved very far and very fast in expanding cross-strait economic cooperation, trade ties and cultural ties with the PRC [People’s Republic of China] — leading to a growing apprehension about the direction and uncertainty of cross-strait relations,” he said.
Ma’s policies are a “major step” toward the full integration of the two economies and China “will not get a more pro-Chinese leader of Taiwan than Ma,” Garver said.
He said that China should be rewarding Ma’s efforts and giving him reasons to reassure the Taiwanese that closer cross-strait integration is to their advantage.
“Beijing has not been more forthcoming, likely because that would make the regime appear weak, especially in the eyes of the People’s Liberation Army, which believes that such a generous approach of diplomatic peace would not be appropriate, given China’s growing international power,” Garver said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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