Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

What al-Assad fall means for China

Yang Chung-hsin 楊宗新

The regime of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad — whose family ruled Syria for half a century — collapsed under continued pressure from rebel forces led by the alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), ending with the panicked al-Assad escaping from Damascus. Given al-Assad’s close relationship with Beijing, the rebel victory might very well impact China.

Located at the end of the Silk Road’s eastern section, Syria historically served as a vital passage for Eastern goods traveling to Europe. On the eve of a coup led by then-Syrian minister of defense Hafez al-Assad in 1969, a Syrian envoy was sent to Beijing. In the midst of the Cultural Revolution, China had implemented a foreign policy of exporting revolution and therefore Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東) committed to providing Hafez al-Assad with substantial military aid.

Muddling the word ‘sovereignty’

Simon Tang 湯先鈍

Former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) on Sunday proposed a new cross-strait narrative, saying: “The two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not subordinate to each other in terms of governance, but share sovereignty without division (兩岸治權互不隸屬,主權同而不分).”

Jurisdiction is one of the necessary conditions included in the definition of sovereignty. According to the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, the sufficient and necessary condition for sovereignty is that the local government has full and substantial independent authority to govern its region in terms of politics, economy, national security, public affairs and even foreign relations — free from external interference. Therefore, without jurisdiction, there is no sovereignty — period. Jurisdiction is merely a necessary sub-element of sovereignty. How can the two be separated? This is International Relations 101 — a foundational concept taught in introductory political science courses. Are there any Taiwanese academics who can honestly deny this common knowledge?

The thieves crying ‘stop thief’

Taipei Times Editorial

YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) posted a video on Friday last week about how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) bribes Taiwanese online influencers in its “united front” efforts to manipulate public opinion in Taiwan. The video showed how China’s United Front Work Department (UFWD) provided Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源) with the tools with which to create anti-Taiwanese independence content.

Whereas official propaganda works well within China to a domestic audience, international audiences, with their access to less controlled content, present a problem for the CCP, which wants to keep a tight rein on the narrative. However, the party has found a way to use free speech and an unregulated social media environment to its benefit: control the situation at source, influence the influencers and offer financial rewards for people wanting to monetize content on online platforms that exist beyond the Great Firewall of China.

Forum reveals KMT hypocrisy

Jethro Wang 王濬

On May 27, 2022, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) — still a mayoral candidate at the time — suggested three prerequisites for the continuation of the Shanghai-Taipei Twin City Forum: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could no longer harass Taiwan, must show goodwill toward the nation, and must acknowledge that Taiwan and China are equals.

Just two-and-a-half years later, these commitments have been abandoned completely. This has led to a loss of trust in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) principles and ability to handle cross-strait relations.

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