Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) has been on a marathon tour across the Pacific Islands, originally planning on having 10 nations endorse a sweeping new agreement covering everything from security to fisheries. However, there has been an outcry about journalists being prevented from asking Wang questions.
In some of the nations, China has already been making its presence known even before the formation of diplomatic ties. It was fortunate that these small countries in the Pacific Ocean were alert and thwarted China’s ambitions without undermining their own nation’s interests, resisting China’s growing threat in the Indo-Pacific region.
There is no way that economic, cultural and social exchanges could take place independently and decoupled from democracy. Wang’s domineering attitude toward reporters has showcased that the Chinese Communist Party does not respect press freedom, let alone freedom of speech.
By strengthening ties and signing treaties with a country that imposes censorship, these countries would be putting their citizens in jeopardy by giving up to manipulation and coercion.
As it extends its tentacles into the South Pacific islands, China seems to be signing bilateral agreements with different countries, but is actually exploiting the countries’ geopolitical positions in a bid for influence in the South Pacific.
With national strategies like military expansion, cultural plunder and social division, China is intensifying competition and expanding its role to Australia’s front porch and the US’ backyard.
While Wang could stop reporters from asking questions at conferences, he has no control over freedom of speech in these countries. Wang’s overbearing attitude during the conference has been the writing on the wall.
If these countries become overdependent on China, they would be at Beijing’s beck and call. If that day comes, they would only be able to hold their tongues and do China’s bidding.
Chen Chi-nung is principal of Shueili Junior High School in Nantou County.
Translated by Rita Wang
With each passing day, the threat of a People’s Republic of China (PRC) assault on Taiwan grows. Whatever one’s view about the history, there is essentially no question that a PRC conquest of Taiwan would mark the end of the autonomy and freedom enjoyed by the island’s 23 million people. Simply put, the PRC threat to Taiwan is genuinely existential for a free, democratic and autonomous Taiwan. Yet one might not know it from looking at Taiwan. For an island facing a threat so acute, lethal and imminent, Taiwan is showing an alarming lack of urgency in dramatically strengthening its defenses.
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
Every day since Oct. 7 last year, the world has watched an unprecedented wave of violence rain down on Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories — more than 200 days of constant suffering and death in Gaza with just a seven-day pause. Many of us in the American expatriate community in Taiwan have been watching this tragedy unfold in horror. We know we are implicated with every US-made “dumb” bomb dropped on a civilian target and by the diplomatic cover our government gives to the Israeli government, which has only gotten more extreme with such impunity. Meantime, multicultural coalitions of US
I still remember the first time I heard about the possibility of an invasion by China. I was six years old. I thought war was coming and hid in my bed, scared. After 18 years, the invasion news tastes like a sandwich I eat every morning. As a Gen Z Taiwanese student who has witnessed China’s harassment for more than 20 years, I want to share my opinion on China. Every generation goes through different events. I have seen not only the norms of China’s constant presence, but also the Sunflower movement, wars and people fighting over peace or equality,