Taiwan should stay clear of potential confrontation between the US and China, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) said yesterday, calling on President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to be cautious in pursuing relations with US president-elect Donald Trump’s administration.
Chan made the call at a meeting of the KMT Central Standing Committee at the party’s headquarters in Taipei following a presentation about the Taiwan-US-Chinese relationship in the wake of the Dec. 2 telephone call Tsai made to Trump.
The presentation was given by Chinese Culture University political science professor Edward Chen (陳一新).
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Chan said the major and sudden shifts in international politics recently showed the KMT is the “guarantor of peaceful cross-strait development,” without whom Taiwan’s survival “would have been in doubt.”
Chan also issued a three-point statement, which he said represented the KMT’s view of recent events.
“The Democratic Progressive Party government should not lose its head in chasing perceived opportunities. Instead, it should take a cautious and risk-aware approach by prioritizing the well-being of Taiwanese. It must not be dragged into a confrontation between the US and China, and it should not rely on a minority’s ideology or wishful thinking; otherwise it will entrap Taiwan in danger,” the statement said.
Beijing should remain calm and not sacrifice innocent Taiwanese by involving them in any unnecessary response, the statement said.
Trump’s incoming administration must respect the beliefs and dignity of Taiwanese, and not use their rights and survival as a bargaining chip, it said.
Chen told the committee that if the Trump administration retracts the US’ long-standing “one China” policy, as stated in the 1972 Shanghai Communique, Beijing could refuse to honor its commitment to peacefully resolve its dispute with Taiwan.
“Opening this Pandora’s box could lead to outcomes too grave for any person to deal with,” Chen said.
KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) also spoke about the issue before leaving Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for Thailand.
“Although many academics are concerned with Taiwan becoming a chess piece in a confrontation between the US and China, we should withhold discussions on the issue until Trump is actually sworn in. Making comments right now is tantamount to engaging in sheer speculation,” she told reporters.
Hung said that her five-day trip to Thailand and Malaysia is aimed at understanding the party’s overseas organizations and “receiving aid from friends of the KMT at a most difficult time.”
Additional reporting by CNA
‘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
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
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
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