Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

US, PRC, ROC: a new Great Game?

Jerome Keating

There are games and then there are games; some games are serious while others are just for fun. However, the real ones can be deadly, especially if they involve nations.

One such example served as the backdrop for English author Rudyard Kipling’s novel Kim; there he used “the Great Game” to describe the struggle between Great Britain and Russia over influence in central Asia. As this game played out, central Asia became a graveyard for many.

Japan key in anti-China alliance

Andrew Hammond

Japan’s growing geopolitical importance will be showcased in the coming days as the country hosts the US secretaries of state and defense on Monday next week, and helps convene a reported Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) meeting of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and US President Joe Biden.

Next week’s visit by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to Tokyo will be the first major overseas trip of the key officials. Their destination — where they are to meet for so-called “two plus two” talks with Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi and Japanese Minister of Defense Nobuo Kishi — reflects growing US concerns about the challenge posed by a rising China, and North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

Achieving a nuclear-free homeland

Shih Shin-Min 施信民

This year is the 10th anniversary of Japan’s Great Tohoku Earthquake and the ensuing Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster. It is also a crucial year for Taiwan, one that could see the nation bidding farewell to nuclear power and marching in the direction of a “nuclear-free homeland.” A national referendum is to take place on Aug. 28 to decide the future of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮).

On March 11, 2011, an earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan led to the failure of four reactor cores and gas explosions at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, causing a large amount of radioactive material to leak. The Japanese government ordered the emergency evacuation of about 140,000 residents living within a 20km radius.

Import bans must have scientific foundation

Vincent Tsai 蔡濁瀝

The Chinese government on Feb. 26 announced an import ban on Taiwanese pineapples, saying that scale insects were found in several imported batches.

As a result, pineapples that were originally scheduled to be exported to China had no place to go, and pineapple farmers found themselves exposed to huge losses.

The Council of Agriculture (COA) has said that even if Taiwanese pineapples were contaminated with scale insects, the Japanese government would only require that they be fumigated before being released.

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