Taiwan leader tells China war 'absolutely not an option'

 China's threats of military action against Taiwan are “absolutely not an option” and will “only push our two sides further from each other," Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said Monday.

JOHNSON LAI

Mon, October 10, 2022 at 12:37 PM

https://news.yahoo.com/taiwan-leader-tells-china-force-043703579.html

Taiwan National Day

The military honor guard attend National Day celebrations in front of the Presidential Building in Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Taiwan National Day

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen delivers a speech during National Day celebrations in front of the Presidential Building in Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Taiwan National Day

Helicopters fly over the President Office with the Taiwan national flag during National Day celebrations in front of the Presidential Building in Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Taiwan National Day

Thunder Tiger Aerobatics Team fly over the Presidential Office during National Day celebrations in front of the Presidential Building in Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China's threats of military action against Taiwan are “absolutely not an option” and will “only push our two sides further from each other," Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said Monday.

Speaking on Taiwan’s National Day, Tsai said China should not mistake Taiwan’s multiparty democratic political system for weakness and “attempt to divide Taiwanese society.”

“I want to make clear to the Beijing authorities that armed confrontation is absolutely not an option for our two sides," Tsai said. “Only by respecting the commitment of the Taiwanese people to our sovereignty, democracy, and freedom can there be a foundation for resuming constructive interaction across the Taiwan Strait," she said.

Fighter jets and a Chinook helicopter displaying Taiwan’s flag flew overhead while the band from Taipei’s First Girls’ High School played hits ranging from the Beatles to Lady Gaga.

National Day festivities included international guests such as Palau President Surangel S. Whipps Jr., whose country’s blue and yellow flag flew alongside Taiwan’s red banner with its blue square and white star.

The holiday evokes Taiwan’s endurance as a separate political entity with a thriving democracy and free press. Generally known as “Double Ten” in Taiwan, it commemorates a 1911 uprising by troops in the Chinese city of Wuhan that eventually led to downfall of the Qing Dynasty. China’s Communist Party swept the Nationalist government from the mainland amid civil war in 1949 and continues to claim the island.

In response, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning reiterated China's long-held stance that “Taiwan is .... not an independent state and has no so-called president."

“The root cause of the current tensions in the Taiwan Strait is that the (ruling Democratic Progressive Party) authorities have been clinging to Taiwan independence and colluding with external forces to make provocations," Mao told reporters at a daily briefing. “We are ready to create a wide space for peaceful reunification, but will never leave any room for secessionist activities of Taiwan independence."

Tsai's speech focused largely on Taiwan's success in strengthening the social security net for an aging society and growing its high-tech economy despite the pandemic.

But she also emphasized Taiwan's efforts to protect itself, with increased imports of foreign hardware, revitalization of its domestic arms industry and upgraded training for reserves. Tsai singled out Taiwan's submarine development program and the delivery of its first domestically developed and constructed 10,000-ton landing platform dock, Yushan, as particular successes.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has refocused attention on China and on ways Taiwan can resist a much larger and more powerful foe equipped with the world’s largest standing army and a huge arsenal of missiles.

That was further underscored when China launched threatening military exercises around the island in response to a visit to Taiwan in early August by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Beijing sent ships and planes across the midline of the Taiwan Strait that had long been a buffer zone between the sides in what was seen by some as a rehearsal of a blockade that could presage an attack. The U.S. has warned against such an action and Taiwan's defense chief said the island has sufficient resources to resist an attempt to cut it off from the outside world.

China also declared testing zones around the island in some of the world's most heavily traveled shipping lanes and fired at least four missiles over Taiwan, some of them landing in Japan's exclusive economic zone.

Japan issued diplomatic protests over the missile firings and signed on to a statement from the Group of Seven industrialized countries criticizing the war games.

Despite Beijing's threats, U.S. and other foreign diplomats have continued to visit Taiwan and Washington's commitment to Taiwan's defense appears only to have grown.

Although Taipei and Washington have no formal diplomatic relations — a concession made to Beijing on the establishment of official ties in 1979 — U.S. law requires that Taipei has the ability to defend itself. It also requires Washington to regard all threats to the island as matters of “grave concern."

That commitment rests on a concept of “strategic ambiguity," whereby Washington insists Taiwan’s status must be resolved peacefully but does not say if U.S. forces might be sent in response to a Chinese attack.

As China has ramped up its threats, that concept has eroded. President Joe Biden, in a CBS “60 Minutes” interview last month, said that “U.S. forces, U.S. men and women, would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.”

The White House said after the interview that U.S. policy toward Taiwan hasn’t changed.

Last month, the Biden administration announced a $1.09 billion arms sale to Taiwan, including $355 million for Harpoon air-to-sea missiles; $85 million for Sidewinder air-to-air missile and a $655 million logistics support package for Taiwan’s surveillance radar program, which provides air defense warnings.

China, meanwhile, refuses to acknowledge Taiwanese self-determination or recognize Tsai’s government. The two sides have not had any formal contacts the first of her two terms began in 2016.

Apart from military threats, Beijing blocks Taiwan from participating in international health, economic and cultural forums and has banned some imports from the island in apparent violation of World Trade Organization rules.

https://news.yahoo.com/taiwan-leader-tells-china-force-043703579.html

OTHERS:

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  Reuters

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Chinese news outlet had accidentally published ‘rules’ for pro-Russia reporting days before invasion

 Just days before the invasion of Ukraine, a Chinese state-run media outlet accidentally published editorial “instructions” on how to cover the escalating crisis and a senior editor had urged China to “back up” Russia so that it could get support on the Taiwan issue, according to reports.

Shweta Sharma   Independent

25 February 2022

© EPA

Members of the Russian community in Los Angeles protest against the war in Ukraine

- EPA

Reports of the remarks and the “instructions”, that emerged on Tuesday, exemplified the stand China subsequently took of refusing to call the crisis an invasion.

Chinese state-run news outlet Horizon News had appeared to accidentally publish editorial “instructions” on its Weibo page for pro-Russia reporting and how to cover the invasion to show Russia in a positive light.

The memo, which was later taken down, said no anti-Russia or pro-Western content should be published, The Washington Post had reported on Tuesday.

Gerry Shih

@gerryshih

Beijing News social media account accidentally posts its own censorship orders from high up: ban on posts that are “not positive toward Russia or positive toward West”, all user comments must be carefully screened and slowly posted. P.S. social media guy: you had one job…

𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐢

@lingli_vienna

Detailed censorship instructions for dissemination of reports and comments on the Russian-Ukraine conflict, mistakenly leaked *Shimian account belongs to 新京报 (Beijing News). *人新央 refers to, presumably, People's Daily, Xinhua Agency & CCTV.

Meanwhile, a top state media editor also remarked on how Beijing needed Moscow to “wrestle America” on the Taiwan front.

Ming Jinwei, who is a senior editor at Xinhua News Agency, wrote on his WeChat blog, just days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, that it would be in Chinese interest to support Russia because the former would need Moscow’s support on the Taiwan issue.

“China has to back Russia up with emotional and moral support while refraining from treading on the toes of the US and EU,” Mr Ming said, according to the Post.

“In the future, China will also need Russia’s understanding and support when wrestling with America to solve the Taiwan issue once and for all.”

“China should understand Russia’s legitimate security concerns” with respect to Ukraine, he had added.

The comments were early indicators of China’s stance on the conflict, in which the Asian giant refused to condemn president Vladimir Putin and recognise the military action as an invasion, even as most global leaders issued their widespread condemnations.

China had maintained a diplomatic stance on Thursday when it called “all parties to exercise restraint” and had lashed out at the US for “fanning the flames” of potential war.

China and Russia have largely aligned their foreign policies to oppose the US. The two countries displayed deepening ties after Mr Putin and president Xi Jinping met earlier this month in the backdrop of the Olympics Games.

In a joint statement after the meeting, the two leaders had said their strategic relationship has “no limits” and China backed Moscow’s opposition to Nato expansion in former Soviet republics while Russia buttressed Beijing’s claim to the self-governing island of Taiwan — key foreign policy issues for both nations.

Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy in Ukraine arranged evacuation flights for Chinese citizens. An embassy statement on Friday said conditions in Ukraine “deteriorated sharply” but made no mention of the Russian invasion.

Taiwan, a self-ruling island nation that China has maintained is a breakaway province from its mainland, has announced its intent to join “democratic countries” in putting sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Taiwan has been faced increased military pressure from Beijing over the last two years and has beefed up vigilance on military activities from China the amid ongoing crisis.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/chinese-news-outlet-had-accidentally-published-rules-for-pro-russia-reporting-days-before-invasion/ar-AAUhCZT

China’s ‘secret’ UAE military facility sends message to nationalists at home

 A Chinese military base in the Gulf has long been a nightmare scenario for many US officials who, for years, watched the growing ties between China and their Gulf allies with a wary eye.

Ahmed Aboudouh, The Independent

23 November 2021

© EPA

An Emirati inspects the US F-35 during the exhibition of the Dubai Airshow 2021

Now, their suspicions about China’s ambitions to establish a military footprint in the oil-rich region appear to have taken a step closer to becoming a reality.

Satellite images emerged last week suggesting that China was building a multi-storey military facility in the UAE port of Khalifa. The UAE government appeared not to be aware of the building in the terminal which was built and operated by the Chinese shipping corporation Cosco. Building work has now apparently stopped, following a warning from the US.

The UAE is one of America’s most trusted strategic allies in the Middle East. It hosts a US airbase in al-Dhafra, Abu Dhabi. Emirati soldiers fought side by side with American forces in Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen and the government has purchased American weapons worth billions of dollars.

On the other hand, the UAE is one of the major oil importers to China. Oil accounts for approximately 20 per cent of China’s energy consumption, and the Gulf is China’s biggest source.

The UAE is a regional hub for Chinese investments through the Belt and Road Initiative. It is the most important trade partner in the Arab world and is responsible for 28 per cent of China’s non-oil trade with the Middle East. And, more than 200,000 Chinese citizens live and invest in the Gulf country.

Limiting its ties strictly to economic cooperations and investing in growing business markets traditionally allowed China to hedge its bets and avoid sliding into simmering geopolitical entanglements between regional rivals. Beijing “traditionally has viewed direct military involvement abroad as a last resort,” says Sophie Zinser, a fellow in the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East North Africa Programmes at Chatham House.

But reports of the alleged military base in the UAE may indicate that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might be ready to lock horns with the US military in the Gulf.

“As China becomes increasingly confident and ambitious about realising the Chinese dream of achieving national rejuvenation, it believes it naturally needs to pursue global power and global influence to go along with its expanding economic presence in the world,” says Tong Zhao, a senior fellow in Carnegie Institute in Beijing.

The reality of what is suspected to be a Chinese military facility in the UAE could embroil China into the region’s conflict and end its “free-riding” on the back of the US security commitments, a position the Chinese leaders are seemingly keen to avoid.

Analysts also suggest that such a construction would still illustrate China’s soft power projection abroad – a similar perception of Bejing’s logistical supply base in Djibouti. Any plan for a strategic troop deployment by China in a Gulf base would be plainly futile as it would be circled by a complex network of bigger and more sophisticated American military bases on all fronts.

But the biggest dilemma Chinese decision-makers face are domestic - arising from rocketing nationalism at home, as China’s interests grow exponentially abroad.

Netizens on social media have questioned China’s lackadaisical policy of avoiding military intervention abroad to protect Chinese citizens in the event of attacks.

In August, a blast hit a bus killing 13 Chinese nationals working on a dam project in Pakistan. Over the weekend, gunmen kidnapped five Chinese citizens near a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rather than targeting the regional US-led status quo, the alleged Chinese military facility would be a message designed to assuage domestic critics as President Xi Jinping prepares for a third term at the helm of the Communist Party.

“China was probably thinking: ‘America has one, America is strong, we want to look strong, therefore should have one too’ rather than ‘Let’s destroy America’,” Zinser says.

Nonetheless, reports of any Chinese military footmark in the region would rattle the US administration as it quietly battles to sway its Gulf allies to ditch billions of dollars contracts with telecom giant Huawei to provide them with 5G mobile networks.

US officials think that using the Chinese company’s equipment in the Gulf represents an immediate security risk to US military and intelligence assets in the region.

Growing ties between the Emiratis and China even threatened to put the UAE’s $23b remarkable deal to purchase 50 F-35 stealth fighter jets, the crown jewel in the US airforce, and Reaper drones, on the backburner.

The United States, under President Donald Trump, agreed to sell the warplanes after the UAE last year established ties with Israel as part of the “Abrahamic Accords.” But the Trump and Biden administrations had concerns over Abu Dhabi’s ties with Beijing and its security implications.

Last week, however, a US official announced that Washington intends to move forward with the sale but emphasised that there must be a clear understanding of what he called “Emirati obligations”.

Despite the bipartisan consensus on the urgency to block China’s security ambitions in the region, officials in the US understand that not proceeding with the sale could have significant consequences on Washington’s longstanding alliance with Abu Dhabi.

“The Biden administration, much like the Trump administration that preceded it, has made a calculated decision that not selling F-35s would merely accelerate the UAE’s tilt towards Russia and China, undermine the Abraham Accords, and result in significant losses of revenue,” says Samuel Ramani, associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.

“While there are technology-sharing risks of selling F-35s to the UAE, the geopolitical risks of abrogating the agreement are viewed in the US as even larger. That’s why the F-35 sales are coming to fruition,” he adds.

The sale may also help restore the shaking trust among Gulf allies in the US’s commitment to regional security, which was exacerbated by Washington’s bigger concerns in Asia and the messy military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The perception of the US disengagement from the Middle East spurred many allies, including the UAE, to diversify their commercial and security partnerships, seeking greater ties with China, Russia, India and the EU.

The recently alleged Chinese military facility discovered in the UAE “is merely a reflection of its increasingly multipolar foreign and security policy,” Ramani suggests.

But with China, the UAE is looking for more than a commercial partner. The two countries have a lot of parallels in their national development strategies, including the long-term vision for their place in the world.

“China and the UAE have symbiotic national policy goals, including diversification of exports, upskilling their domestic workforce into the more white-collar industry, and an urge to grow increasingly prominent on the international stage,” Zinser says.

This multifaceted fast-paced cooperation will make the future sync in the security field inevitable.

“It is logical that the next foray would be in the security sphere, even if a base of this nature is a rather brazen and unexpected move,” Ramani says.

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