Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Non-conventional defenses needed

Taipei Times Editorial

The US is reportedly preparing to sell Taiwan seven new major weapons systems, including sophisticated aerial drones, land-based anti-ship missiles, anti-tank missiles and smart mines, Reuters said on Wednesday.

The planned sales are part of the Pentagon’s “Fortress Taiwan” strategy to assist the nation in building up asymmetric warfare capabilities and turning it into a “porcupine” capable of deterring a Chinese attack.

Coalition to push US trade deal

Taipei Times

US-Taiwan Business Council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers speaks in Annapolis, Maryland, on October 28, 2018.
Photo: CNA

The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (AmCham Taipei) and the Arlington, Virginia-based US-Taiwan Business Council yesterday announced they had formed a coalition to push for a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) between Taiwan and the US.

Strong backbone can thwart China

Yeomin Yoon

A nation existing globally respects what other nations think, and appropriates other nations’ perceptions of itself. The element that a nation wants to see most in its international image is respect, something the People’s Republic of China seems to be craving.

Criteria of respect for nations are historically and culturally variant, but one primary, essential criterion has become universal since the end of the Cold War: a respect for human rights.

How the government of a nation treats its people and how they treat one another has become an essential measure of that nation’s respectability. A nation might be powerful and, hence, feared or depended on; it might be rich and favored as a trade partner.

Inspired by the Velvet Revolution

Vincent Chen 陳建志

Disregarding China’s reaction, a large delegation of 89 members led by Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil arrived in Taiwan on Aug. 30, in an unprecedented formal exchange between the two nations.

As the delegation had a tight schedule, Vystrcil’s two public speeches — at National Chengchi University on Aug. 31 and at the Legislative Yuan on Sept. 2 — received much of the spotlight.

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