AstraZeneca said on Tuesday (Jan 2) that its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) immunisation for infants developed with Sanofi has got approval in China. The drug makers co-developed the RSV shot for infants and toddlers called Beyfortus, which has already been approved for use in the European Union and United States.Continue Reading
Residents queued outside supermarkets to stock up on supplies, but some convenience stores were closed because there had been no product deliveries. A sign at one store told customers: “We’re closed today. We’re evacuating.” Relief efforts were already underway, with construction workers trying to mend road cracks with heavy machineryContinue Reading
HONG KONG: Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty on Tuesday (Jan 2) to all charges levelled against him in a high-profile national security trial. Lai faces two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces – including calling for sanctions against Hong Kong and Chinese officials –Continue Reading
TAIPEI: The head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Tuesday (Jan 2) called on Taiwan’s people to promote the process of “peaceful reunification”, saying it was the common desire of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Song Tao’s message, which comes less than two weeks before Taiwan holdsContinue Reading
China on Tuesday (Jan 2) urged the Netherlands to “respect market principles” a day after chip machine maker ASML said the Dutch government had revoked an export licence covering the shipment of some of its equipment to China. The Veldhoven, Netherlands-based company said on Monday that the shipments affected includedContinue Reading
Public broadcaster NHK said eight deaths had been reported in the hard-hit town of Wajima near the quake’s epicentre, while in nearby Suzu some doctors were unable to reach a hospital that was relying on a backup generator for power. The national police said agency six people had been confirmedContinue Reading
DHAKA: Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus was convicted on Monday (Jan 1) of violating Bangladesh’s labour laws in a case decried by his supporters as politically motivated. Yunus, 83, is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering microfinance bank but has earned the enmity of longtime PrimeContinue Reading
KMT senior officials including Mr Ma have also been making trips to China to meet with key figures in the Chinese government, noted Dr Huang. If Mr Hou wins, the KMT officials in charge of these visits would be “very quick to adapt to the situation” and occupy key cross-strait government positions.
“I think there’s probably going to be an emphasis first on forging pragmatic cooperative ties on functional issues,” he said. This could include jumpstarting trade agreements or having some sort of understanding that there will be greater international space for Taiwan in public health and, possibly, the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
Such issues would enable the KMT to show it is a government able to bring tangible benefits to the electorate.
The “most sensitive part, this question about what ‘one China’ actually is”, may not be talked about immediately, Dr Huang reckoned.
For the US, a KMT win is “not a bad development either”. It reduces the likelihood of having to “worry about Taiwan and getting drawn into an unnecessary conflict in the Taiwan Strait”, he said.
There may, however, be the concern that Taiwan would be “pulled into China’s orbit more closely and so it would lose its strategic ally and partner”.
Taiwan will continue to buy arms from the US to improve its defence capability, as Mr Hou would still need the US and other countries’ support in resisting Beijing’s unification efforts, said Dr Qi.
For Southeast Asia, a win for Hou would mean less pressure to choose between supporting Beijing, or supporting Taiwan or the US, in the unlikely event of a conflict, the analysts said.
“If the KMT government were to be elected, I think there would probably be a temporary sigh of relief for most Southeast Asian governments (which) don’t have to be wedged in between this conflict between China and Taiwan,” said Dr Huang.
Mr Hou, a career police officer, has said he wants to expand the New Southbound initiative to encompass the entire Indo-Pacific region, noted Dr Jing Bo-jiun, senior research fellow in Taiwan Studies at the University of Oxford.
At a press event in December, Mr Hou said the DPP’s New Southbound Policy was not working as claimed by the ruling party, and proposed expanding its focus.
JAKARTA: More than 140 Rohingya have arrived in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province over the weekend, state news agency Antara reported on Monday (Jan 1), adding to a surge of arrivals of members of the Myanmar Muslim minority to Indonesia. The group, consisting mostly of women and children, arrived by boatContinue Reading
TOKYO: A massive earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 hit central Japan on Monday (Jan 1), triggering a tsunami warning and advisories for residents to evacuate. A tsunami around 1m high struck parts of the coast along the Sea of Japan with a larger wave expected, public broadcaster NHK reported. “All residents mustContinue Reading