The Taiwan Statebuilding Party yesterday called for ports calls to be established between the Taiwanese and US coast guards to help maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
The party’s proposal came hours before US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi was expected to arrive in Taipei.
Beijing has increasingly used maritime law enforcement as a pretext for expanding its sea power, party Secretary-General Wang Hsing-huan (王興煥) told a news conference in Taipei, citing China’s Maritime Police Law amendments and territorial claims over the Taiwan Strait.
The establishment of Taiwan-US ports calls would facilitate China’s containment by enabling coast guard ships from the US’ allies to anchor in Taiwanese ports, which could be utilized to secure Taiwan in gray-zone conflicts or outright war, he said.
Sea power is key to China’s hegemonic ambitions and it explains Beijing’s assertion of sovereignty claims over the waters surrounding the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam, he said.
For Taiwan, the most threatening aspect of China’s bid for control of the seas is its ongoing efforts to transform the Taiwan Strait into its territorial waters, a project that involves redefining maritime laws and reforming its coast guard into a paramilitary organization, he said.
Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan would represent an opening for Taipei to pursue the ports of call scheme, he said, adding that the opportunity afforded by warming Taiwan-US ties should not go to waste.
The US appreciates Taiwan’s importance to the defense of the first island chain, as shown by the signing last year of a memorandum of understanding to establish a coast guard working group, Taiwan National Security Association deputy secretary-general Ho Cheng-hui (何澄輝) said.
Broadening bilateral cooperation would be key to managing conflict risks that lie outside the military domain, he said.
Citing the US Institute of Naval Studies’ launch of the Maritime Counterinsurgency Project in March, Ho said the US Navy has begun shifting its focus on improving its gray-zone capabilities in collaboration with its allies.
Taiwan should not allow itself to be left out of international cooperation in matters concerning maritime rescue, counterterrorism and environmental protection, he said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS