Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

China loses if it cuts ‘three links’

Lin Shiou-jeng 林修正

On Tuesday, a headline in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) stated that China might “cut the three links” between Taiwan and China, while Taiwanese officials urged the public not to panic. It is clear that Beijing is increasing the pressure on Taipei following the phone call between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and US president-elect Donald Trump last month. However, doing that could end up hurting Beijing more than Taipei.

Military ready for moves by ‘Liaoning’

Taipei Times

China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning, with accompanying vessels, conducts a drill in the South China Sea in and undated photograph taken last month.
Photo: Reuters

The Taiwanese military is prepared for possible maneuvers by the China’s aircraft carrier group in the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday.

Chinese provocations hide its fear

Paul Lin 林保華

If China wants to pick a fight with the US, the most vulnerable time for the US would be before the White House handover. However, China does not dare to actually pick a fight, so it is doing its best to be provocative to show that it is the boss and satisfy its own people’s vanity.

The most obvious action occurred in South China Sea, in the waters near Subic Bay in the Philippines, where it seized an underwater drone from right under the nose of a US surveillance vessel, despite warnings to stop.

Choosing the policeman or gangster

James Wang 王景弘

Faced with two great powers — the US and China — some people in Taiwan say: “It is hard to be a small country between two big ones.”

These people advocate “equidistant diplomacy” as a survival strategy. However, this fancy argument cannot deceive people who have at least some sense of right and wrong, and who support the idea of Taiwan as a sovereign state.

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