Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

China is unreliable trade partner

Taipei Times Editorial

China on Monday announced it was lifting a ban on importing pomeloes from Taiwan ahead of this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival. In doing so, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office emphasized that “Taiwan and China are one family and it is easier to negotiate things in the family.” It added that the two sides should interact on the basis of the so-called “1992 consensus” and oppose “Taiwan independence.” This clearly shows that the ban and its removal are politically motivated.

China imposed the ban on pomelo imports from Taiwan on Aug. 3, 2022, a move widely seen as a measure to retaliate against Taiwan for receiving then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi on Aug. 2 to 3. It is only one part of the economic prohibitions Beijing imposed that month, which included blocking imports of more than 2,000 Taiwanese products, ranging from agricultural and fishery goods to cooking oil and cakes.

MOFA to focus on clarifying UN 2758

Taipei Times

Taiwan will appeal to the international community to stop China from misrepresenting UN Resolution 2758 when the UN General Assembly meets later this month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.

The ministry made the remarks at a news conference in Taipei on its objectives to promote Taiwan’s inclusion in the world body.

The 79th UN General Assembly is to open on Tuesday next week at its headquarters in New York. The assembly is to hold its general debate from Sept. 24 to 28, focusing on the theme: “Leaving no one behind: Acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said.

Jessup’s memorandum 74 years on

Antonio Graceffo

“There can be no doubt but that the eventual fate of Formosa largely rests with the US. Unless the US’ political-military strategic position in the Far East is to be abandoned, it is obvious that the time must come in the foreseeable future when a line must be drawn beyond which Communist expansion will be stopped,” reads the memorandum of conversation by then-US ambassador-at-large Philip C. Jessup in 1950.

At the annual Ketagalan Forum on Aug. 8, former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley emphasized the importance of the US standing by its allies, especially against global threats from authoritarian regimes such as China. She warned against isolationism and the need for “moral clarity” in supporting Taiwan and highlighted Taiwan’s strategic importance in the Indo-Pacific region. Haley also called for stronger international backing for Taiwan, including its full membership in the UN. Her remarks echoed Jessup’s memorandum, which advocated for active US engagement in Asia to counter regional threats and the expansion of communism.

Standing up to Chinese hegemony

Taipei Times Editorial

When former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2021 said that a contingency in Taiwan would also be an emergency for Japan, it was taken as a warning that Tokyo would have to get involved if conflict erupted in the Taiwan Strait — if not to defend its national security, then certainly to address a transformed security environment if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) were to annex Taiwan.

What seemed to be an insightful comment then is now — less than three years later — generally regarded to be the case. This is just one measure of how much the regional dynamic has changed. The CCP and its fellow travelers put the blame squarely on the US and its foreign policy, while others say it is the CCP’s behavior that has changed the landscape.

This is not a chicken-and-egg scenario. It is not difficult to see which party is responsible for increasing regional tensions.

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