Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Taiwan must thwart China collusion

Taipei Times Editorials

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) on Saturday called for amendments to the Criminal Code of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍刑法) to make it illegal for military personnel to help Beijing disseminate propaganda.

Wang said such an amendment was necessary for cases like that of army Colonel Hsiang Te-en (向德恩), who was last month found guilty of accepting NT$560,000 from China in exchange for signing a “surrender agreement.” Such actions could demoralize the military, posing a threat to national security, Wang said.

US bill authorizes arms loans, not grants

Taipei Times

A US government funding bill for next year that was unveiled on Tuesday authorized US$2 billion in loans to Taiwan to buy weapons, but did not include grants for similar purposes that had been approved in a separate defense bill.

The Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, covering funding for the US government for fiscal 2023, allowed up to US$2 billion in direct loans to Taiwan under the Foreign Military Financing Program.

Learning from US’ Ukraine policy

Joseph Bosco

If Washington’s support for Ukraine against Russia’s aggression is a model for the US’ role after a Chinese attack on Taiwan, Taiwanese are in for a rough ride.

In 2008, at the urging of then-US president George W. Bush, NATO issued a communique from its 26 members, stating: “We agreed that [Georgia and Ukraine] will become members of NATO.”

Bolstering Taiwan, UK exchanges

Yao Chung-yuan 姚中原

Although Taiwan and the UK have no military cooperation, London has been closely monitoring the situation in the Taiwan Strait in the face of the aggressive expansion of Chinese Communist Party forces in the Indo-Pacific region. There is strategic space for military exchanges between Taiwan and the UK, and for the two nations to collaborate on maintaining security and stability in the region.

On Nov. 29, a British parliamentary delegation visited Taiwan. On Dec. 5, British Defence Select Committee Chairman Tobias Ellwood said in a Reuters report that the UK should have greater military and security interaction with Taiwan, and it should be bolder in supporting Taiwan internationally.

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