President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inaugural address was well received in Washington and praised for containing no surprises and no provocations.
Sources at both the US Department of State and the White House said they were pleased with the careful way she had balanced the conflicting demands of Beijing and her domestic political constituency.
“Essentially, the first test is passed — the speech met US expectations,” one unnamed US government source told the well-respected newsletter the Nelson Report.
The State Department issued a two-paragraph statement congratulating Tsai and saying that her inauguration “marks another milestone in the development of Taiwan’s vibrant democracy.”
“We look forward to working with the new administration as well as with all of Taiwan’s political parties and civil society groups to further strengthen the ties between the people of the US and Taiwan,” it said.
Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton said in an essay published by the Wall Street Journal that it was “likely” that Tsai’s first year in office would determine the success or failure of her presidency.”
He wrote that for now ambiguity might provide Tsai with the best path to pursue economic growth, but that maintaining the “status quo” was not in her power alone.
“The close timing of political transitions in Taiwan and the US means that her first year will be particularly risky,” Bolton wrote.
He said that with US President Barack Obama’s tenure ending, Chinese leaders would not miss one last chance to take advantage of his “passive approach” to foreign affairs.
“China may try to avoid actual military conflict but it has every incentive to see how far it can go,” Bolton wrote, adding that Tsai and the Democratic Progressive Party would be well advised to work closely with US allies to navigate the coming year.
“Taiwan’s new government should also reflect on what it really wants over the long term — caution may be a virtue but it isn’t a strategy,” Bolton wrote.
American Enterprise Institute foreign and defense policy academic Michael Mazza said that Tsai’s comments in her inaugural address on cross-strait ties were “entirely reasonable.”
Mazza wrote in remarks published on the institute’s Web site that cross-strait ties might now take a turn for the worse although not because of anything Tsai has or has not said.
“China, rather, has little idea how to deal with a Taiwan that it has effectively lost,” Mazza wrote.
He said that unification might be Beijing’s dream, but it was better described as a fantasy.
“President Tsai’s challenge now is not to avoid provoking China — that is impossible as long as she stays true to herself, her party and the people that elected her — but rather to seek stronger ties to and support from the Obama administration,” Mazza wrote.
Former US deputy assistant secretary of state for Asia Randall Schriver said he believed China was likely to increase pressure on Taiwan and take a harder line.
In an interview with the Web site The Cipher Brief, Schriver said China wanted to isolate Taiwan.
“They want to try to create anxiety in the region as well as anxiety in Washington about the direction of cross-strait relations in hopes that Washington and others might assist in pressuring Tsai,” he said.
Schriver said Tsai was capable of navigating without a lot of direction from Washington and that sometimes there was value in ambiguity.
“If it’s not thoughtful, clarity could actually be problematic,” he said.
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
The government yesterday donated US$200,000 to the Philippines to support post-earthquake relief and recovery efforts, following a powerful magnitude 6.9 quake that struck Cebu Province late last month, killing at least 72 people and injuring 559 others. The donation was presented earlier yesterday by Representative to the Philippines Wallace Chow (周民淦) to Cherbett Maralit, deputy resident representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, at Taiwan’s representative office in Manila. In his remarks, Chow expressed concern for those affected by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck the central Philippines on the night of Sept. 30. "We sincerely hope for the earliest possible
RSS