Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

KMT’s US pivot: distrust and verify

Taipei Times Editorial

Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in August 2020 accused the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of leading Taiwan into a perilous situation as it allegedly pursued a foreign policy that leans heavily toward the US and antagonizes China.

At a forum organized by the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, titled “A Nation Unsafe,” Ma also criticized Tsai for not acknowledging the so-called “1992 consensus,” which he said had eliminated the basis of mutual trust between Taipei and Beijing.

This was a complete inversion of the truth. In reality, it is China that has for the past decade been flexing its muscles in the Asia-Pacific region, militarizing the South and East China seas, and using “wolf warrior” diplomats to harass and coerce neighboring nations, including Taiwan.

Pushing the UK to improve ties

Gray Sergeant

Many European nations have been flexing their pro-Taiwan credentials over the past few years. In return, among other gestures of gratitude, the sky over Kaohsiung was adorned with the flags of the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia. This year’s Lantern Festival light show is the city’s way of thanking those countries for their donations of COVID-19 vaccines.

Most of these countries had much more to be thanked for. Prague made headlines when it signed a sister-city agreement with Taipei, while Czech politicians have been at the forefront of parliamentary visits to the country. In 2020, Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil proclaimed to the Legislative Yuan and the international media: “I am Taiwanese.”

The two sides to Chiang Ching-kuo

The Liberty Times Editorial

The Ching-kuo Chi-hai Cultural Park and Chiang Ching-kuo Presidential Library officially opened on Jan. 22. In her opening remarks at the event, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) praised former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) firm anti-communist stance and his determination to safeguard Taiwan, a position shared by Taiwanese in the face of the threat posed by China.

Attended by opposition and government figures, the ceremony to commemorate someone representative of the authoritarian period has not failed to cause uproar, even though Chiang passed away 34 years ago.

However, Tsai’s speech refrained from passing judgement on Chiang’s character.

Want to save the world? Recognize Taiwan

Ian Easton

Taiwan’s future is likely to have an outsized impact on not only the United States and People’s Republic of China, but the entire global order. There is no country on Earth today whose future is so uncertain, so contested, and so consequential. Why does Taiwan matter? Because not all foreign policy puzzles are created equal. A power law applies.

When it comes to matters of power, radically unequal distribution is the law of the universe. In Peter Thiel’s book, Zero to One, he describes how the power law works and why it matters to everyone. Thiel uses examples from the venture capital world, pointing out that just a few companies radically outperform all others.

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