Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

No dignity in KMT plans

Taipei Times Editorial

The forum involving the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that had been suspended for nine years is to resume this month, media reports said, likely as a prelude to a meeting between KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in March.

The Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum was proposed in 2005 by then-KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and then-Chinese president Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) during Lien’s so-called “ice-breaker” trip to Beijing, and was held annually from 2006.

However, it has been suspended since 2017, one year after the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) defeated the KMT in the 2016 presidential election. Its suspension was attributed to Beijing’s perception that the forum was ineffective in swaying the political preferences of Taiwanese.

Stand up to CCP’s intimidation

Taipei Times Editorial

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday last week accused China of “digital authoritarianism” and transnational repression after Strait Plus (今日海峽), a Chinese state-controlled media channel, disseminated personal information about Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), including satellite images of his home and workplace in Taipei.

It was the latest escalation in a months-long campaign of intimidation and harassment that has followed Shen well beyond the realm of rhetoric, testing the boundaries of what Taiwan and the international community are prepared to tolerate.

Existing within a fraught reality

Chen Ling-yao 陳凌曜

For many, the escalation in intensity of military exercises around Taiwan has ceased to be shocking and is now a familiar, yet hard-to-ignore background noise. They have seeped into everyday life in the form of breaking news notifications during the early morning commute, military alerts that pop up between tasks at work and occasional forwarded discussions in family group chats. The seemingly muted response from members of the public is a result of adaptation under long-standing pressures.

For frontline workers, the drills have a tangible impact on the rhythms of daily life. Teachers must face questions from students and offer calm explanations of the situation; industry workers must consider impacts on shipping, logistics, and market fluctuations for how their supply chains and clientele might be affected. By and large, people’s concerns are simple and pragmatic. They center on whether or not their jobs would be affected and what adjustments they might need to make in their day, rather than on grand political considerations.

Behind the military messaging

Taipei Times Editorial

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) provided several reasons for military drills it conducted in five zones around Taiwan on Monday and yesterday.

The first was as a warning to “Taiwanese independence forces” to cease and desist. This is a consistent line from the Chinese authorities. The second was that the drills were aimed at “deterrence” of outside military intervention.

Monday’s announcement of the drills was the first time that Beijing has publicly used the second reason for conducting such drills. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership is clearly rattled by “external forces” apparently consolidating around an intention to intervene.

More Articles...