Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Exercises at airport are worth the disruption

Ray Song 宋磊

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is scheduled to suspend commercial air traffic for one hour later this month for an anti-takeover drill. It is reported that the maneuvers would involve members of the Aviation Special Forces Command and Army Airborne Special Forces posing as an invading enemy, with ground troops deployed to repel the simulated takeover attempt.

The drill is to be part of the live-fire component of this year’s Han Kuang military exercises from July 24 to 28. The airport drill has been tentatively set for July 26 and the planned one-hour suspension of air traffic indicates that it would likely last less than that to limit the inconvenience for travelers. All major airlines are to be informed of the event, while an international air traffic broadcast would also be issued.

Lai has a vision on Taiwan’s key issues

Wang Chih-chien 汪志堅

Not long ago, Vice President and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate William Lai (賴清德) published an article titled “My Plan to Preserve Peace in the Taiwan Strait” in the Wall Street Journal, proposing a “four-pillar plan” for peace and prosperity — including bolstering Taiwan’s military deterrence, treating economic security as national security, developing partnerships with the world’s democracies, and steady and principled cross-strait leadership.

The four pillars’ careful arguments are straightforward and show Lai’s stature, while highlighting the major drawbacks of other candidates who lack the core ideas of national development.

Chinese rules designed for power

Yu Kung 愚工

China’s counter-espionage Law amended on Saturday last week and Foreign Investment Law enacted on Jan. 1 last year were designed to work together.

Article 4, Paragraph 3 of the Counter-Espionage Law gives a broad definition of acts of espionage, ie: “Activities carried out, instigated or funded by foreign institutions, organizations and individuals other than espionage organizations and their representatives, or in which domestic institutions, organizations or individuals collude, to steal, pry into, purchase or illegally provide state secrets, intelligence and other documents, data, materials or items related to national security, or in which state employees are incited, enticed, coerced or bought over to turn traitor.”

The KMT’s evergreen money tree

Chang Kuo-tsai 張國財

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), the great businessman, has humbled himself twice seeking the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) nomination for presidential elections.

With regret and frustration, Gou must be confused as to why he failed. He could not swallow his pride. Doubtless he has the ability to lead the nation and make policy. When he met then-US president Donald Trump in the White House, he even wore a special baseball cap emblazoned with the Republic of China and US flags, showing his acute global perspective. And he is clearly up to handling cross-strait relations: He has met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). What is it about Gou that makes him any less prepared to take on these tasks than former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) four years ago, or New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) this time around? With his tail between his legs, the only thing Gou can do is grumble that fate was simply not on his side.

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