Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Military cooperation with India practical

Chang Feng-lin 張豐麟

On Thursday last week, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported that Air Force Commander General Hsiung Hou-chi (熊厚基) took part in a videoconference on military affairs in the Indo-Pacific region, citing the Indian Air Force’s Facebook page. This is encouraging news.

Indian Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari and air force commanders in the region met online to discuss the challenges of distributed logistics and combat deployment while operating in austere locations.

Taiwan-India ties ready to take off

Sumit Kumar

The State Bank of India has raised US$300 million from the Taiwanese market through a maiden issue of Formosa bonds at a coupon rate of 2.49 percent. The issuance attracted a wide range of investors, such as supranational agencies, asset managers, private bankers and financial institutions. Meanwhile, the Indian government has also started talks with Taiwan on a free-trade agreement.

These developments would normally have been treated as a routine affair between India and Taiwan, but as the countries do not enjoy formal ties, and India has in the past remained hesitant to sign a free-trade agreement with Taiwan, the activities underscore a profound shift in New Delhi’s policy toward Taipei. More to the point, the successive governments before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to foster ties with Taiwan in a closet due to their fear of China.

PRC targets Taiwan with new disinformation ploy

Taiwan Tati Cultural & Educational Foundation

An illustration shows computer code and a Chinese national flag on July 12, 2017.
Photo: REUTERS

China is conducting disinformation campaigns that involve more than 400 fake accounts targeting Taiwanese on social media, the Investigation Bureau said on Friday.

China is trying to infiltrate social media, Internet forums and online chatrooms that are popular among Taiwanese to subvert the public’s trust in the government, destabilize society and meddle in elections, the bureau said.

China has erred in its reading of Lithuania

Tommy Lin 林逸民

Last year, China entered into a spat with Lithuania over Vilnius allowing Taipei to open a de facto embassy using the name “Taiwan.” Beijing recalled its ambassadors from Lithuania and downgraded its diplomatic ties with the Baltic state to the “charge d’affaires” level.

In hindsight, China should realize that this move handed Lithuania on a plate to Taiwan.

China used its economic leverage as punishment. First, it tried to pressure German industry giant Continental AG to stop using Lithuanian-made components. When an EU trade commissioner said that Chinese customs were refusing to clear goods containing Lithuanian parts, China denied it was at fault, but it was too late; it had crossed the EU’s red line in adopting unfair trade measures.

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