China’s increased bullying of Taiwan is boosting global support for the nation, former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage said.
“The more China bullies Taiwan, the more international support comes to Taiwan,” Armitage said in an interview with Voice of America on Wednesday last week.
Armitage recently visited Taiwan, during which he attended the inauguration of President William Lai (賴清德) and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and brought a message of bipartisan US support for Lai.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
Asked how he interpreted China’s drills near Taiwan following Lai’s inauguration speech, Armitage said they were expected.
“Lai said: ‘We are open for dialogue on the basis of mutual respect and dignity,’ thereby putting Taiwan on the high road. And I think China was not expecting it,” he said.
Armitage described Taiwan’s geographic position as the “tyranny of proximity,” and said that despite China’s efforts at coercion and intimidation, more countries around the world are speaking up for Taiwan.
On the issue of defense, Armitage said that Taiwan should learn from Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion by incorporating unconventional asymmetrical methods of warfare, including greater use of drones and air defense systems.
Taiwan must also increase military recruitment, which is at 80 percent, he added.
Commenting on how this could be done, Armitage said women should be encouraged to enroll and that more should be done to improve the image of military service.
“More and more Taiwan citizens have to be able to respect those who choose to serve for the defense of Taiwan,” he said.
Taiwan is also not facing the China threat alone, Armitage said.
“People who were not very interested historically, in security terms, in the Taiwan Strait have all of a sudden become very interested,” he said. “Canadians, French, Germans, British and always the US, we’re all patrolling around the area. It’s been brought about by China.”
Asked what security conflict was of the greatest importance to the US, Armitage said that while the US was heavily invested in the defense of Ukraine at the moment, Washington always keeps a global perspective.
“If you remember in 1950, our secretary of state famously said that Korea was outside the defense perimeter of the US. And what happened? Several months later, North Korea invaded,” he said. “So, I would say it’s bad business to try to put anything in an order.”
As for whether tensions in the Taiwan Strait would worsen under Lai, Armitage said that although Beijing has labeled Lai a “separatist,” many security officials in his administration were kept on from Tsai’s government — which would calm Beijing’s concerns.
‘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
RSS