Tag: Tsai Ing-wen

A Chinese Commonwealth? An Unpopular Idea Resurfaces in Taiwan.

Chin@Strategy

The K.M.T. has a long history of arguing for economic integration with China. The party’s roots date back to the nationalist army that lost a civil war against Chinese Communists in 1949 and escaped to Taiwan to regroup. K.M.T. officials, who initially ruled as a military dictatorship, were so committed to the dream of returning to the mainland for a rematch that, a Ming Chuan University professor told me, they routinely barred active-duty soldiers from getting married, out of fear soldiers would be diverted from their cause. The closest that…

With Record Military Incursions, China Warns Taiwan and the U.S.

Chin@Strategy

China sent a record number of military aircraft to menace self-ruled Taiwan in a large show of force to the Biden administration, signaling that Beijing wants to maintain pressure on Taiwan even as some tensions between the superpowers are easing. The swarm of Chinese fighter jets, maritime patrol planes and drones that buzzed the airspace near Taiwan in the 24-hour period leading to Monday morning demonstrated Beijing’s appetite for confrontation with the United States over Taiwan, the island democracy China claims as its territory. The military activity — which, according…

How Taiwan’s Ambitious Diplomacy Aims to Keep the Island Safe From China

Chin@Strategy

TAIPEI, Taiwan — To maintain diplomatic ties with Guatemala, Taiwan pays the country’s lobbyists in Washington. With its allies in the Pacific, Taiwan has promised to help preserve indigenous cultures, and to thank Lithuania, Taiwan’s newest unofficial ally, the government and local shoppers have embraced its imports, from lasers to bacon-flavored schnapps. The fear of being swallowed by China — increasingly adamant in its authoritarian claims over the self-ruled democracy — focuses the diplomatic mind. Few places in the world can claim to be as scrappy with statecraft or as…

U.S. Aims to Turn Taiwan Into Giant Weapons Depot

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — American officials are intensifying efforts to build a giant stockpile of weapons in Taiwan after studying recent naval and air force exercises by the Chinese military around the island, according to current and former officials. The exercises showed that China would probably blockade the island as a prelude to any attempted invasion, and Taiwan would have to hold out on its own until the United States or other nations intervened, if they decided to do that, the current and former officials say. But the effort to transform Taiwan…

Chinese Drones: The Latest Irritant Buzzing Taiwan’s Defenses

Chin@Strategy

TAIPEI, Taiwan — At first the Taiwanese soldiers ignored the drones flying from China. Then, as the flights increased, they fired warning shots. Finally, the soldiers shot one into the sea. In the past month nearly 30 unarmed drones have buzzed two islands belonging to Taiwan near China’s southern coast. The drones were mostly civilian, or unidentified, but were clearly targeting the garrison of Taiwanese soldiers stationed on the rocky outcrops. The drones are adding to tensions between the two sides which have escalated in the past month to new…

Five U.S. Lawmakers Arrive in Taiwan Amid Tensions With China

Chin@Strategy

A five-member congressional delegation arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, less than two weeks after the contentious visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that infuriated China and drew intense Chinese military drills off the island’s coast. The bipartisan group, led by Senator Ed Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, was welcomed by Taiwanese officials who said they appreciated the show of solidarity during the escalating tensions with Beijing. There was no immediate response from Beijing, but the presence of the five American lawmakers so quickly after Ms. Pelosi’s visit was likely to provoke…

China Vows More Drills, but Taiwan Is Undeterred

Chin@Strategy

If China’s show of force over Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip was meant as a deterrent, it has not had the intended effect in Taiwan, where the military drills have reinforced a careful two-pronged strategy of shoring up international support, while avoiding overt confrontation. The exercises, which encircled the self-ruled island and simulated a blockade, appear instead to have hardened the Taiwanese belief in the value of the island’s diplomatic, economic and military maneuverings to stake out a middle ground in the big-power standoff between China and the United States. Under…

Taiwan and U.S. Consider Weapons Suited to Defend Against China

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is quietly pressing the Taiwanese government to order American-made weapons that would help its small military repel a seaborne invasion by China rather than weapons designed for conventional set-piece warfare, current and former U.S. and Taiwanese officials say. The U.S. campaign to shape Taiwan’s defenses has grown in urgency since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine ordered in late February by President Vladimir V. Putin. The war has convinced Washington and Taipei that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan in the coming years is now a…

War in Ukraine Hits Home for Taiwanese

Chin@Strategy

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Justin Huang, a 23-year-old recent university graduate in Taiwan, has been gripped by news of the crisis, just like many other people around the world. He has pored over reports about Ukrainians signing up for the military and scrutinized video footage of Russian missiles hitting residential buildings. He has been deeply disturbed by Russia’s brazen disregard for global norms. But for Mr. Huang and many Taiwanese, Russia’s assault is hitting especially close to home. The self-governed island democracy has long faced the threat…

Some in Taiwan See Parallels to Ukraine

Chin@Strategy

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, on Wednesday ordered the island’s armed forces and security personnel to step up surveillance and strengthen defenses as she sought to reassure those who see, in the Ukraine conflict, echoes of the self-governed territory’s own existential crisis. Ms. Tsai’s instructions were delivered as a growing number of people within and outside the island are drawing parallels between Ukraine and Taiwan, a democratically ruled territory that Beijing claims as its own. Though the comparison is not perfect, Taiwan, like Ukraine, has long lived in…