Tsai reiterates Taiwan's status quo on national day
Nigerian president backs judges' arrests
I-BRIDGE's blog (Link Campus University's Research Centre on Global Affairs) - editor, Marco Emanuele - Critical thinking, complexity, international relations (Twitter, @Glob_Eye - Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/marco.emanuele.50)
Showing posts with label Taiwan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taiwan. Show all posts
Monday, 10 October 2016
News by Anadolu
US: Trump defiant hours before second debate
US presidential debate focuses on behavior to women
Tsai reiterates Taiwan's status quo on national day
Nigerian president backs judges' arrests
Ailing Thai king undergoes kidney dialysis
Tsai reiterates Taiwan's status quo on national day
Nigerian president backs judges' arrests
Tuesday, 24 May 2016
Tsai’s inauguration in Taiwan: It could have been worse (Richard C. Bush III, Brookings)
Taiwan’s new president, Tsai Ing-wen, was inaugurated on May 20—a hot and humid day in Taipei, where I witnessed the festivities. The inauguration ceremony marked the transition of power from the administration of now-former President Ma Ying-jeou and his Kuomintang (KMT) to Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). But it also had the potential to be a turning point in Taiwan’s relations with China. Would President Tsai reassure Beijing as it had demanded for months, and so preserve relations between the two sides of the Strait? Or would she fail to sufficiently accommodate China’s wishes and trigger a deterioration in relations? Beijing’s rather quick response to Tsai’s inaugural address suggests that a crisis was avoided, at least temporarily
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/order-from-chaos/posts/2016/05/23-tsai-ing-wen-inauguration-taiwan-bush
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/order-from-chaos/posts/2016/05/23-tsai-ing-wen-inauguration-taiwan-bush
Monday, 23 May 2016
Turbulent times ahead for Tsai Ing-wen’s Taiwan? (Mark Harrison, East Asia Forum)
On 20 May Tsai Ing-wen was inaugurated as president of Taiwan, following her sweeping victory in the January elections. Members of her party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), have already taken up their majority seats in the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan’s parliament
http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/05/23/turbulent-times-ahead-for-tsai-ing-wens-taiwan/
http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/05/23/turbulent-times-ahead-for-tsai-ing-wens-taiwan/
Saturday, 21 May 2016
Taiwan, un nuovo presidente e le sfide per l’Ue (Nicola Casarini, AffarInternazionali)
L’Unione europea non riconosce politicamente la Repubblica di Cina con capitale a Taipei, ovvero Taiwan, in ossequio al principio di “una sola Cina” (one China policy) che prevede che solo la Repubblica popolare cinese con sede a Pechino rappresenti la Cina
http://www.affarinternazionali.it/articolo.asp?ID=3460
http://www.affarinternazionali.it/articolo.asp?ID=3460
Thursday, 18 February 2016
Why Taiwan President Ma Ying-Jeou’s Day-Trip To Taiping Island Was Such A Big Deal (Jacques deLisle, FPRI)
When Taiwan’s soon-to-step-down President Ma Ying-jeou made a pre-Lunar New Year’s visit to Itu Aba / Taiping Island in late January 2016, the international-lawyer-turned-president was reaffirming a long-standing claim that the Republic of China held sovereignty over the largest landform (as well as many smaller ones) in the hotly disputed South China Sea region. Remarks Ma made on the island reiterated often-stated bases for the ROC’s claims. A presidential appearance on the island was not without precedent: Ma loosely reprised a 2008 expedition by his ever-controversial predecessor Chen Shui-bian. Yet, Ma’s move drew sharp rebukes abroad, most notably from Washington and also from Hanoi and Manila. Several contexts of Ma’s gambit made the otherwise-seemingly-anodyne assertion of a well-known position more significant and controversial.
http://www.eurasiareview.com/18022016-why-taiwan-president-ma-ying-jeous-day-trip-to-taiping-island-was-such-a-big-deal-analysis/
http://www.eurasiareview.com/18022016-why-taiwan-president-ma-ying-jeous-day-trip-to-taiping-island-was-such-a-big-deal-analysis/
Monday, 15 February 2016
Why Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou’s Day-Trip to Taiping Island was Such a Big Deal (Jacques deLisle, FPRI)
When Taiwan’s soon-to-step-down President Ma Ying-jeou made a pre-Lunar New Year’s visit to Itu Aba / Taiping Island in late January 2016, the international-lawyer-turned-president was reaffirming a long-standing claim that the Republic of China held sovereignty over the largest landform (as well as many smaller ones) in the hotly disputed South China Sea region. Remarks Ma made on the island reiterated often-stated bases for the ROC’s claims. A presidential appearance on the island was not without precedent: Ma loosely reprised a 2008 expedition by his ever-controversial predecessor Chen Shui-bian. Yet, Ma’s move drew sharp rebukes abroad, most notably from Washington and also from Hanoi and Manila. Several contexts of Ma’s gambit made the otherwise-seemingly-anodyne assertion of a well-known position more significant and controversial.
http://www.fpri.org/articles/2016/02/why-taiwan-president-ma-ying-jeous-day-trip-taiping-island-was-such-big-deal
http://www.fpri.org/articles/2016/02/why-taiwan-president-ma-ying-jeous-day-trip-taiping-island-was-such-big-deal
Taiwan’s 2016 Elections and Cross-Strait Relations (Jacques deLisle, FPRI)
When Taiwanese voters went to the polls on January 16, 2016, they did something that has become admirably routine in Taiwan’s robust democracy: mandating a change of the party in power and setting the stage for another peaceful transition of power between opposing political parties—the third since Taiwan began holding fully democratic presidential elections in 1996. This election was, however, different in some key respects: voters chose the first woman president of the ROC or any government in the Chinese-speaking world; cross-Strait relations were not a defining or central issue in the campaign or, apparently, for the electorate; and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won both the presidency and a solid majority in the Legislative Yuan—something that the Kuomintang (KMT) had enjoyed for the preceding eight years. The significance of the second of these novel features should not be overstated. Relations with the Mainland were more salient than the surface focus on issues of economic performance, inequality, pensions, housing affordability, and public health and safety may suggest. And cross-Strait questions will loom very large for President Tsai Ing-wen and a DPP-majority government’s prospects for success.
http://www.fpri.org/articles/2016/02/taiwans-2016-elections-and-cross-strait-relations
http://www.fpri.org/articles/2016/02/taiwans-2016-elections-and-cross-strait-relations
Friday, 12 February 2016
Taiwan’s South China Sea Dilemma (Shang-su Wu, The Diplomat)
The speech of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-Jeou on Taiping Island (also known as Itu Aba, among other names) on January 28 not only demonstrates his view on the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, but also reveals the dilemma that confronts his successor, President-elect Tsai Ing-wen.
http://thediplomat.com/2016/02/taiwans-south-china-sea-dilemma/
http://thediplomat.com/2016/02/taiwans-south-china-sea-dilemma/
Monday, 8 February 2016
Beijing’s steady reinterpretation: ‘One China, One System’ (William Baulch, ASPI The Strategist)
The failure of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle that governs relations between China and Hong Kong should concern states in the Asia–Pacific. The erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy undermines pro-unification forces in Taiwan and bolsters the case of pro-independence activists. It may also result in Taiwan distancing itself further from China, a move that would have serious repercussions for regional stability.
In July 1997, when British administration of Hong Kong ceased, the region reunited with the People’s Republic of China. The handover occurred after lengthy negotiations in which Beijing promised Hong Kong could maintain control over its domestic affairs, including its capitalist economy and legal system. It seems that promise hasn’t been kept.
Freedoms in Hong Kong have gradually eroded in recent years, reportedly under pressure from the mainland. Frustration with China’s interference in Hong Kong’s domestic politics boiled over in 2014 at the prospect that candidates for the region’s Chief Executive would be pre-screened by Beijing. That sparked months of protests which forced the closure of key parts of the city. Authorities outwaited the protesters without making concessions and the issue remains largely unresolved.
Tensions are on the rise again in light of news that five employees from a Hong Kong publishing company have disappeared since October 2015. The publishing house sold texts critical of the Chinese government that are banned on the mainland. It’s suspected that the Hong Kong residents have been abducted and detained in China by security services. If true, it would constitute a direct assault on Hong Kong’s freedom of speech and sovereign authority to maintain law and order. The dramatic appearance last Monday of the publishing house’s co-owner, Gui Minhai, in the custody of mainland police supposedly of his own volition, has done little to ease fears over the erosion of freedoms in the autonomous region.
Those sort of issues inevitably have ramifications for the democratic, self-governing Taiwan, which officially supports the concept of ‘one China’. Chinese President Xi Jinping believes improving relations across the Taiwan Strait should lead to unification under the ‘one country, two systems’ principle. Yet with the same policy appearing to fail in Hong Kong, is such a deal truly possible?
Taiwan has been a potential source of conflict in East Asia since Nationalist forces retreated to the island at the end of the civil war in 1949. After becoming a democracy in 1996, Taiwan has toyed with the notion of independence, particularly during the 2000–2008 presidency of Chen Shui-bian from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). In response, Beijing passed a law in 2005 requiring that Taiwan be unified with China through military means in the event that it actively sought independence. However, the US has a security commitment to Taipei that would likely force Washington to react to a Chinese assault on Taiwan. Active conflict over the Taiwan Strait therefore remains a serious and credible threat.
Taiwan hasn’t sought independence for several reasons. Beijing maintains an arsenal of missiles facing Taiwan, capable of causing immediate and widespread destruction. Beijing’s‘Three Links’ policy and financial incentives to invest in the mainland have made Taiwaneconomically reliant on China. The pro-China Kuomintang Party (KMT) also took back the presidency after the tense years under Chen Shui-bian. Most importantly, many Taiwanese retain a Chinese identity and wish to maintain the status quo. But military threats, economic dependence and a Chinese identity may no longer be enough to forestall the independence movement in Taiwan.
The number of people living in Taiwan identifying as Chinese is falling and most now identify as Taiwanese. A clear majority of the population prefer independence to unification and agrowing number of Taiwan’s youth seek ‘immediate independence’ even at the risk of conflict. The recent election of a DPP president and legislature is indicative of this transition. Pro-unification advocates will have to rely more heavily on distinctions within the ‘one country, two systems’ argument to maintain support. But with the apparent failure of that policy in Hong Kong, they’ll be on shaky ground.
President-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s support for the status quo should prevent an immediate deterioration in cross-Strait relations. However, calls for independence are growing and the situation in Hong Kong lends the movement additional strength. China appears to recognise the risk, warning Taiwan just hours after the election that any push for independence would be ‘poison’. Yet Beijing’s parading of Mr Gui on state media just days later reveals a concerning failure of judgement, if not a degree of apathy.
Those troubles go far beyond China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. If Beijing continues to pressure Hong Kong, the ‘one country, two systems’ argument may become untenable for Taiwan’s pro-unification forces, enabling pro-independence campaigners to dominate the debate. In those circumstances, Beijing–Taipei relations will break down. Any subsequent confrontation in the Taiwan Strait could trigger the US–Taiwan security commitment, putting two East Asian powers on a collision course and essentially forcing US allies, including Australia, to choose between Beijing and Washington. This potential collision course implicates all regional actors in ensuring Hong Kong retains its autonomy.
William Baulch is an International Relations and International Security Studies graduate from the Australian National University. Image courtesy of Flickr user Eamonn Lawlor.
In July 1997, when British administration of Hong Kong ceased, the region reunited with the People’s Republic of China. The handover occurred after lengthy negotiations in which Beijing promised Hong Kong could maintain control over its domestic affairs, including its capitalist economy and legal system. It seems that promise hasn’t been kept.
Freedoms in Hong Kong have gradually eroded in recent years, reportedly under pressure from the mainland. Frustration with China’s interference in Hong Kong’s domestic politics boiled over in 2014 at the prospect that candidates for the region’s Chief Executive would be pre-screened by Beijing. That sparked months of protests which forced the closure of key parts of the city. Authorities outwaited the protesters without making concessions and the issue remains largely unresolved.
Tensions are on the rise again in light of news that five employees from a Hong Kong publishing company have disappeared since October 2015. The publishing house sold texts critical of the Chinese government that are banned on the mainland. It’s suspected that the Hong Kong residents have been abducted and detained in China by security services. If true, it would constitute a direct assault on Hong Kong’s freedom of speech and sovereign authority to maintain law and order. The dramatic appearance last Monday of the publishing house’s co-owner, Gui Minhai, in the custody of mainland police supposedly of his own volition, has done little to ease fears over the erosion of freedoms in the autonomous region.
Those sort of issues inevitably have ramifications for the democratic, self-governing Taiwan, which officially supports the concept of ‘one China’. Chinese President Xi Jinping believes improving relations across the Taiwan Strait should lead to unification under the ‘one country, two systems’ principle. Yet with the same policy appearing to fail in Hong Kong, is such a deal truly possible?
Taiwan has been a potential source of conflict in East Asia since Nationalist forces retreated to the island at the end of the civil war in 1949. After becoming a democracy in 1996, Taiwan has toyed with the notion of independence, particularly during the 2000–2008 presidency of Chen Shui-bian from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). In response, Beijing passed a law in 2005 requiring that Taiwan be unified with China through military means in the event that it actively sought independence. However, the US has a security commitment to Taipei that would likely force Washington to react to a Chinese assault on Taiwan. Active conflict over the Taiwan Strait therefore remains a serious and credible threat.
Taiwan hasn’t sought independence for several reasons. Beijing maintains an arsenal of missiles facing Taiwan, capable of causing immediate and widespread destruction. Beijing’s‘Three Links’ policy and financial incentives to invest in the mainland have made Taiwaneconomically reliant on China. The pro-China Kuomintang Party (KMT) also took back the presidency after the tense years under Chen Shui-bian. Most importantly, many Taiwanese retain a Chinese identity and wish to maintain the status quo. But military threats, economic dependence and a Chinese identity may no longer be enough to forestall the independence movement in Taiwan.
The number of people living in Taiwan identifying as Chinese is falling and most now identify as Taiwanese. A clear majority of the population prefer independence to unification and agrowing number of Taiwan’s youth seek ‘immediate independence’ even at the risk of conflict. The recent election of a DPP president and legislature is indicative of this transition. Pro-unification advocates will have to rely more heavily on distinctions within the ‘one country, two systems’ argument to maintain support. But with the apparent failure of that policy in Hong Kong, they’ll be on shaky ground.
President-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s support for the status quo should prevent an immediate deterioration in cross-Strait relations. However, calls for independence are growing and the situation in Hong Kong lends the movement additional strength. China appears to recognise the risk, warning Taiwan just hours after the election that any push for independence would be ‘poison’. Yet Beijing’s parading of Mr Gui on state media just days later reveals a concerning failure of judgement, if not a degree of apathy.
Those troubles go far beyond China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. If Beijing continues to pressure Hong Kong, the ‘one country, two systems’ argument may become untenable for Taiwan’s pro-unification forces, enabling pro-independence campaigners to dominate the debate. In those circumstances, Beijing–Taipei relations will break down. Any subsequent confrontation in the Taiwan Strait could trigger the US–Taiwan security commitment, putting two East Asian powers on a collision course and essentially forcing US allies, including Australia, to choose between Beijing and Washington. This potential collision course implicates all regional actors in ensuring Hong Kong retains its autonomy.
William Baulch is an International Relations and International Security Studies graduate from the Australian National University. Image courtesy of Flickr user Eamonn Lawlor.
Sunday, 7 February 2016
'Taiwan #1': Online Gaming Meets Cross-Strait Relations (Linda van der Horst, The Diplomat)
It may have been his first time in Taiwan, but the American online gamer – username “Angrypug” – was greeted as a local hero as he arrived at this year’s Taipei Game Show. Young Taiwanese gamers flocked to the stand of online streaming brand Twitch, where the bearded pug lover obligingly posed for selfies.
Angrypug has risen to fame by playing the post-apocalyptic zombie game H1Z1 – and discovering that tapping into the feud between China and Taiwan over Taiwan’s identity and status can be lucrative business.
In the YouTube videos and his online streaming sessions through Twitch, Angrypug infiltrates teams of Chinese players that call themselves “Red Army” teams. He then infuriates the Chinese players by shouting “Taiwan #1”, to which the Chinese gamers respond with “China #1, Taiwan #2”, cursing the American gamer and his mother. In some videos, the Chinese players start playing the Chinese national anthem after killing Angrypug’s character. In another, Chinese players shout back “Taiwan is my country.”
The videos have become a sensation in the online gaming world, both in the United States as well as in Asia. A single video of Angrypug’s “Taiwan #1” has around two million hits on YouTube, but this does not include the great number of people who watch his live streaming. They first appeared last summer, but became the most popular discussion thread on U.S. online forum Reddit at the end of November.
But they’ve become most popular in Taiwan, for the obvious reason that his declaration of superiority of Taiwan over China is playing into a younger game-playing generation who grew up feeling distinctly Taiwanese and are proud of their identity. One Taiwanese DJ has even mixed soundbites of Angrypug shouting “Taiwan #1” into a techno song.
Angrypug’s “Taiwan #1” trademark is good business for him. He has over 60,000 followers, and subscribers to his channel pay $4,99 a month – for which you get a “Taiwan #1” badge and emoticons. His “Taiwan #1” YouTube videos have between several hundred thousand and two million views, a perk that would allow him to share in revenue from advertisements.
Whilst Angrypug makes a buck out of Taiwan national symbolism and pride, similar sentiments got a Taiwanese pop star into an unfortunate predicament a few weeks ago. The day before Taiwan’s landmark elections, Chou Tzu-yu, member of a Korean pop band, was forced to read out a scripted apology after waving a Taiwanese flag, which had angered Chinese netizens. “There is only one China. The two shores are one. I feel proud being a Chinese,” Chou says in the video.
Angrypug, perhaps rather wisely, steered clear of political questions during his visit in Taiwan, instead only talking about trivialities such as Taiwan beer and the local delicacy “stinky tofu” (Angrypug was not available for comment for this article).
The videos have become a sensation in the online gaming world, both in the United States as well as in Asia. A single video of Angrypug’s “Taiwan #1” has around two million hits on YouTube, but this does not include the great number of people who watch his live streaming. They first appeared last summer, but became the most popular discussion thread on U.S. online forum Reddit at the end of November.
But they’ve become most popular in Taiwan, for the obvious reason that his declaration of superiority of Taiwan over China is playing into a younger game-playing generation who grew up feeling distinctly Taiwanese and are proud of their identity. One Taiwanese DJ has even mixed soundbites of Angrypug shouting “Taiwan #1” into a techno song.
Angrypug’s “Taiwan #1” trademark is good business for him. He has over 60,000 followers, and subscribers to his channel pay $4,99 a month – for which you get a “Taiwan #1” badge and emoticons. His “Taiwan #1” YouTube videos have between several hundred thousand and two million views, a perk that would allow him to share in revenue from advertisements.
Whilst Angrypug makes a buck out of Taiwan national symbolism and pride, similar sentiments got a Taiwanese pop star into an unfortunate predicament a few weeks ago. The day before Taiwan’s landmark elections, Chou Tzu-yu, member of a Korean pop band, was forced to read out a scripted apology after waving a Taiwanese flag, which had angered Chinese netizens. “There is only one China. The two shores are one. I feel proud being a Chinese,” Chou says in the video.
Angrypug, perhaps rather wisely, steered clear of political questions during his visit in Taiwan, instead only talking about trivialities such as Taiwan beer and the local delicacy “stinky tofu” (Angrypug was not available for comment for this article).
Friday, 28 August 2015
Monday, 24 August 2015
Monday, 27 July 2015
Thursday, 16 July 2015
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