With the ongoing Ukraine war, it is hard to see past the shock of another major conflict breaking out in the world. Hamas, the Palestinian Muslim organization that runs Gaza City, has orchestrated an unprecedented assault on Israel with thousands of rockets and fighters by land, sea and air over the weekend.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said that the conflict demonstrated the “horrors of war” and reiterated the importance of cross-strait peace.
While the Ukraine war taught Taiwan that conflict is not a thing of the past, the situation in Israel could teach it a thing or two about the dangers of complacency, disunity and the potential for strife.
Ever since its founding, Israel has been engaged in wars with neighboring Arab and Muslim nations, as it strives for normalization, while hoping that one day its adversaries would lay down their weapons and acknowledge its statehood. Diplomatically, the signing of the Abraham Accords by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in 2020 to recognize Israel’s sovereignty has set examples for other neighboring countries to follow. The US’ recent push for a grand bargain to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel is the final piece in the puzzle for Israel’s complete normalization.
In terms of military power, Israel seems to have cracked the Hamas problem with technology, with the introduction of the Iron Beam laser system and the Iron Dome missile system. Along with its “iron wall,” Israel likely considered its war against Hamas over in terms of strategy, military prowess and diplomacy.
Perhaps it is this complacency and overconfidence in its missile intercept system that had Israel hosting the Tribe of Nova music festival less than 5km from Gaza City. Years of false alarms and overwhelming dominance over the enemy had tripped Israelis up, and its citizens and military personnel were not able to react quickly when Hamas breached the border.
Similarly, this kind of complacency could easily take root in the minds of Taiwanese. With the launch of its first domestically built submarine, Taiwan could easily think it could rest on its laurels for reaching a new high in its defense capabilities. With China’s economy in tatters, Taiwan forming closer ties with democratic allies, and years of peace, the Taiwanese public could become lax.
As the conflict in Israel has shown, vigilance should never be lost, not a second or minute. The old Chinese saying could not have put it better: “Thrive in calamity and perish in soft living.”
Taiwan should continue ratcheting up its efforts to improve the military conscription program and develop domestic weapons.
Taiwan should think about the possibility of a proxy war, just as it was Hamas, not the Palestinian government, that attacked Israel. Tunghai University political science professor Shen Yu-chung (沈有忠) said that China could plan terrorist attacks, hire mercenaries or incite a pro-China third party to launch attacks against Taiwan, such as creating chaos at elections or targeting infrastructure.
Aside from staying vigilant and preparing for different possibilities, the Taiwanese public should work on bolstering solidarity and consensus to counter China.
As the US, Taiwan’s biggest ally, is now involved in the Ukraine quagmire and could be dragged into yet another conflict in the Middle East, China could be led to misjudge the situation. To prevent that, Taiwan would have to boost its own defenses if it seeks to keep China at bay.
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS