The Wagner Group revolt highlighted the fragility of dictatorship and it might deepen Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) insecurity, National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said.
Wagner Group mercenaries seized the Russian army base in Rostov-on-Don and advanced toward Moscow with the aim of toppling Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.
“Dictatorship might not be as strong as we thought and its fragility still exists,” Koo said in an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister paper of the Taipei Times) posted online yesterday.
Photo: EPA-EFE / Xinhua / Li Gang
Xi prioritizes the security of his authority over everything else, Koo said, adding that it remains to be seen how the anxiety caused by anti-espionage legislation and the languid economy turns out.
Koo said that China intends to seek unification with Taiwan by any means and considers it a “historic mission,” while 90 percent of Taiwanese wish to maintain the “status quo.”
The conflicting objectives are the fundamental source of the tensions across the Taiwan Strait, rather than the Democratic Progressive Party being in office, he said.
Even if the candidate of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) or another party won the presidential election, they would face the same situation, he added.
The US takes the approach of coordinated deterrence on China, such as by issuing statements on international occasions to underline the importance of cross-strait peace and stability as it concerns the interests of the world, Koo said.
The US and its international allies are sending a clear and consistent message to China against unilaterally changing the “status quo” by force, he said.
The US is planning to form a Marine Littoral Regiment and has access to military bases in the Philippines to prevent China from easily entering and exiting the first island chain, he added.
In addition to Washington’s efforts, Taiwan has to strengthen its self-defense capabilities, Koo said.
China, should it invade, would be at risk of economic sanctions and the intervention of foreign military forces, he said.
If Xi is rational, he would understand that invading Taiwan by force would lead to consequences that he cannot afford, he added.
Cross-strait issues are not Chinese domestic issues, but a concern of the international community, Koo said.
The UN Charter stipulates that international disputes should be resolved peacefully and the G7 is “strongly opposing any unilateral attempts to change the peacefully established status of territories by force or coercion anywhere in the world,” he said.
Taiwan and China not being subordinate to each other has become a reality “acknowledged to a great extent by the international community,” he added.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
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