China would become a crucial “reverse factor” to global stability after the US presidential election, posing political and economic challenges around the world, a National Security Bureau official said yesterday.
Amid major elections in many democracies this year — including in France, Italy and the UK, as well as today’s US presidential election and Japan’s extraordinary session of the National Diet to choose a prime minister on Monday next week — China has attempted to leverage the geopolitical and global economic situation to make a strategic breakthrough, said the official, who wished to remain anonymous.
Conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine are not only expected to aggravate global inflation and supply chain insecurity, but could influence voters, potentially opening up opportunities for China, which with its economic influence could become a crucial “reverse factor” to global stability in the coming year, they said.
Photo: Tingshu Wang, Reuters
China’s authoritarian coalition with Russia, Iran and North Korea is growing and threatening the Indo-Pacific region, while prolonging or exacerbating conflicts that could trap Western democracies in wars in continental Europe and the Middle East, and enable Russia to continue its aggressive expansion, they said.
China’s continued military coercion in the Indo-Pacific region has virtually opened another battlefield, with the aim of diverting the attention of the US and other democracies to reduce international pressure on Russia, they said.
Economically, China’s domestic demand has remained sluggish after the COVID-19 pandemic, but Beijing’s nonmarket economy approach is functioning as a placebo that exacerbates the problem, the official said.
Combined with a manufacturing surplus, the country’s stagnant domestic economy has caused a glut of Chinese goods, they said.
If China seeks to resolve its production surplus by flooding international markets with steel, electric vehicles and petrochemicals, domestic demand in many countries would be severely affected, they said.
For example, exports of China-made products could rise considerably through e-commerce sites during its Double 11 shopping event on Monday next week, aided by reduced or waived shipping fees that would result in unfair market competition, the official said.
China could dominate global markets with “overproduction,” as that has become an alternative weapon for Beijing to threaten global economic stability, they said.
Many countries have imposed higher tariffs against Chinese products to protect domestic industries, they said.
Additional reporting by CNA
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
STAY VIGILANT: When experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as dizziness or fatigue, near a water heater, open windows and doors to ventilate the area Rooftop flue water heaters should only be installed outdoors or in properly ventilated areas to prevent toxic gas from building up, the Yilan County Fire Department said, after a man in Taipei died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Monday last week. The 39-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), an assistant professor at Providence University in Taichung, was at his Taipei home for the holidays when the incident occurred, news reports said. He was taking a shower in the bathroom of a rooftop addition when carbon monoxide — a poisonous byproduct of combustion — leaked from a water heater installed in a poorly ventilated
RSS