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It said that following the tragic hazing death of army corporal Hung Chung-chiu the entire nation had been thrown into turmoil and that the way the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) handles the scandal “could destabilize relations with both the US and China.” Written by US-Taiwan Business Council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers, the article said that pro-China forces had jumped on the opportunity to further undermine the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and claim the military was “unworthy of robust support.” Hammond-Chambers said Washington had “reason to worry” because the ministry was the most important pro-US institution within the government.
He said some in the KMT wanted to impose further financial restrictions on the ministry to “starve the beast” in the aftermath of the scandal. “This would further weaken the already underfunded MND at a time when the military requires resources and support to transform itself into a modern, well-equipped and all-volunteer force,” Hammond-Chambers said. It comes, he said, as some members of Ma’s party want him to open political and military talks with Beijing. “The deep blue camp wants to restrict funds to the MND, claiming that China’s ongoing military build-up is nothing to worry about and that the money should be spent elsewhere,” he said. “Chinese leaders must be watching these developments with positive glee.” “Taipei is doing more damage to its own ability to deter mainland [sic] coercion and military attack than any weapon the People’s Liberation Army could conceive,” Hammond-Chambers said. “This damage represents a serious threat to Taiwan’s national security and by extension to the national security of the US and Japan,” he said.
Hammond-Chambers said that US President Barack Obama’s decision “rhetorically and substantially” to omit Taiwan from his pivot to Asia had telegraphed to China that Taiwan was no longer central to US policy. “By doing so, the US is inviting Chinese adventurism,” he said. Hammond-Chambers concluded that the US can recalibrate its Taiwan policy by restarting arms sales to Taiwan that have been stalled for two years. “The first step should be new F-16C/D fighters, followed by assistance with the procurement of submarines,” he said.
As Ma ended his one-night stopover in the US and left New York to start a 12-day diplomatic tour of the Americas, he met with US politicians including US Representative Eliot Engel, the ranking member of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs. Engel said he had “a very productive conversation” with Ma about “how to reinforce the strong bond between our two countries.” He said that more could be done to deepen economic, security and political ties. US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez left on Monday for a nine-day visit to Asia that includes a stop in Taiwan.
Taiwan ?faces new political crossroads?: ?Wall Street Journal? - Taipei Times
Following a consultation meeting of experts on Wednesday, the council’s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine director Chang Su-san reported that to assess the possibility of the rabies virus jumping to species other than ferret-badgers, both active surveillance of wild animal populations and animal experimentation are necessary. The experimentation plan, which will involve 14 beagles being infected with the virus, has met with strong opposition from the public and some experts. A statement posted by the Animal Rescue Team Taiwan on its Facebook page questioning the need for such experimentation garnered more than 3,000 “Likes” in a few hours.
Dai Keng-chi, a veterinarian and an animal behaviorist, also blasted the authority and experts who have endorsed the experimentation, calling them “inhuman” and claiming that the dogs will definitely be infected once inoculated with the virus. “Given that the dogs will definitely be infected, what is the point of conducting a test to see whether the onset of symptoms would occur?” Dai asked. “It’s not like we would stop vaccinating our dogs and cats if the test found that the beagles did not develop symptoms.”
Yeh Lih-seng, a professor of veterinary medicine at National Taiwan University, said that the number of dogs in the experiment would be too small for it to be valid The council yesterday replied that although all mammals are susceptible to infection, virus strains differ in their virulence.
Tsai Hsiang-jung, director-general of the council’s Animal Health Research Institute, said that, as the genome sequence shows that the rabies virus found in Formosan ferret-badgers is evolutionarily an independent lineage, it is necessary to conduct the animal experiment for the better understanding of the virus’ infectivity for animals other than ferret-badgers, especially dogs, and for the direction of future prevention measures.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/08/17/2003569908
She defeated primary opponent Eric Chu of the Kuomintang party, taking 56 percent of the vote to his 31 percent according to Taiwan's Central Election Commission. "The results today tell me that people want to see a government that is willing to listen to people, that is more transparent and accountable and a government that is more capable of leading us pst our current challenges and taking care of those in need," Tsai said in a news conference. In addition to being the first female president, Tsai is also only the second president from outside the Kuomintang party.
Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan's first female president on Saturday, defeating opponent Eric Chu 56 percent to 31 percent in the polls.
Tsai's election represents souring attitudes towards exiting president Ma Ying-jeou's economic failures and policies in regards to relations with China. The Kuomintang party prefer China and Taiwan remain close allies, while Tsai vowed a more distant relationship to preserve the island's sovereignty. "Our democratic system, national identity and international space must be respected," she said. "Any forms of suppression will harm the stability of cross-strait relations."
Tsai is not expected to entirely cut ties with China as long as this sense of respect remains intact. "Both sides have a responsibility to find mutually acceptable means of interaction that are based on dignity and reciprocity," she said. "We must ensure that no provocation or accidents take place."
Taiwan elects first female president Tsai Ing-wen
Tsai Ing-wen and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won a convincing victory in both presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday. President-elect Tsai pledged to maintain peace with giant neighbor China, which claims Taiwan as its sacred territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. Shortly after her victory, China's Taiwan Affairs Office warned it would oppose any move towards independence and that Beijing was determined to defend the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen waves to her supporters after her election victory at party headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan
In a short statement released just before midnight on Saturday, China's Foreign Ministry said no matter what changes there may be on the island, China would never change its policy of opposing Taiwan's formal independence. "The Taiwan issue is an internal matter for China," it said. "There is only one China in the world, the mainland and Taiwan both belong to one China and China's sovereignty and territorial integrity will not brook being broken up," the ministry added. "The results of the Taiwan region election does not change this basic fact and the consensus of the international community."
China hopes the world will continue to uphold a "one China" principle, oppose any form of Taiwan independence and takes "real steps" to support the peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait, it added. Tsai has been thrust into one of Asia's toughest and most dangerous jobs, with China pointing hundreds of missiles at the island it claims, decades after the losing Nationalists fled from Mao Zedong's Communists to Taiwan in the Chinese civil war in 1949. Tsai will have to balance the superpower interests of China, which is also Taiwan's largest trading partner, and the United States with those of her freewheeling, democratic home.
After historic election, China says Taiwan an internal affair
A senior US official has called on China to respect the result of Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections. “We believe in the context of the election that China, like the United States — like any other country observing this — will want to see the election play out and respect the result,” White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said on Wednesday. He was speaking at a special foreign media briefing on US President Barack Obama’s foreign policy priorities. Rhodes had been asked — with the elections just three days away — what message he wanted to convey to both sides of the Taiwan Strait. “We have supported good cross-strait relations. We don’t think that escalation of tension is in the interest of either side,” he said.
While Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen is heavily favored to win the election, Rhodes was careful not to mention either the DPP or the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). “Again, this will take place in the context of our ‘one China’ policy, our three communiques, but in the aftermath ... I don’t want to prejudge a hypothetical circumstance,” he said. “What I would say is that — you know, we would want to be supportive of cross-strait dialogue — of there being an avoidance of tensions and there being the ability for these issues to be addressed. You know, again, peacefully, through dialogue, no matter who the winner is.”
Rhodes said that the US has a longstanding relationship with both sides of the Taiwan Strait and a longstanding defense relationship “that was manifested in the recent arms sale with Taiwan.” “What we want to see is calm and dialogue, and we will think through what the best ways are to support that effort when we have greater clarity about both the election results and how that’s going on,” he said.
Earlier, when first asked for comment on the elections, Rhodes said: “We obviously will respect and welcome whatever expression of the Taiwanese people emerges from this election.” “It’s up to them to make determinations about their leadership,” he said. “We welcome this election. We will respect and work closely with whoever the winner is. Our Taiwan policy — our ‘one China’ policy — will obviously remain the same, but I think it’s a testament to the vibrant democratic culture that you see in Taiwan, that you see in these campaigns and the election that’s coming up.”
China urged to respect election result - Taipei Times
The petition followed another that asked the British government to recognize Taiwan as a nation. As of press time yesterday, that petition had collected more than 19,000 signatures. The US petition said that Washington should reaffirm its commitment to Taiwan and should stand on the side of democracy, not coercion from China. The petitioner’s identity is not disclosed. “In 1928, the USA was the first government to recognize the Republic of China [ROC]. Now in Taiwan, the government has become a beacon of democracy and freedom in Asia,” the petition said.
It said that with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen being elected the nation’s first female president and the DPP winning a majority in the legislature, Taiwan has shown itself to be a free democracy. However, it said: “China threatens with military exercises, bullies Taiwanese people when they display national pride and bullies the world into believing there can be only ‘one China.’” The US should therefore recognize Taiwan as an independent and sovereign nation, it said.
A screen grab shows the number of signatures gained for a petition urging the US government to recognize Taiwan as a nation as of press time yesterday.
Taiwan has been ruled separately from China for most of the past century — first from 1895 to 1945 by Japan after it defeated the Qing Dynasty and seized it as a colony and later from 1949 after the ROC government lost the Chinese Civil War to the Chinese Communist Party and fled to Taiwan.
According to the White House, if a petition meets the threshold of 100,000 signatures in one month, it will be reviewed by US President Barack Obama’s administration, which will issue a response. The UK government promises to respond to all petitions that garner at least 10,000 signatures. With 100,000 signatures, a petition would be considered for debate in the British Parliament, according to British law.
US petition launched to recognize Taiwan as nation - Taipei Times
