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
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday (Jan 1) he was willing to work with the United States to promote stable bilateral ties, exchanging congratulations with his US counterpart on the anniversary of diplomatic relations, state media said.
Xi and US President Joe Biden met in San Francisco in November, vowing to improve communication in an effort to stop competition from spilling over into conflict.
And in an exchange of messages to mark the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Xi said both sides should “take practical actions to promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US relations”.
“Xi Jinping emphasised, I am willing to work with President Biden to continue to navigate China-US relations, benefit both China and the United States and their people, and promote world peace and development,” state broadcaster CCTV said.
Xi added that “adhering to mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation is the correct way for China and the United States to interact”, CCTV said.
TAIPEI: Taiwan’s relations with China must be decided by the will of the people and peace must be based on “dignity”, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Monday (Jan 1) after China’s leader Xi Jinping said “reunification” with the island is inevitable. China has been ramping up military pressure to assertContinue Reading
During the meetings to set the policy agenda for 2024, the North Korean leader accused the United States of posing “various forms of military threat”. He also called on armed forces to “suppress the whole territory of South Korea mobilising all physical means… including nuclear forces” in case of aContinue Reading
Jubilant crowds bid farewell on Sunday (Dec 31) to 2023, with New Zealand among the first in the world to celebrate the arrival of 2024 with a fireworks display in Auckland. Sydney’s Harbour Bridge and other landmarks were also garlanded in light and colour by eight tonnes of fireworks. InContinue Reading