The Taipei Times gave this fellow front page headlines:President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) statement that cross-strait relations are “not international relations” during his Double Ten National Day speech has further weakened Taiwan’s sovereignty and was meant as a hint for the US and Japan not to interfere in cross-strait issues, a local academic said.Actually, no. The glory and the hell of the Taiwan Relations Act is that Taiwan has no role in the decision to defend Taiwan. China already defines Taiwan as an "internal matter". Any decision to not defend Taiwan will be entirely the result of a political calculus that occurs in Washington (and Tokyo). If Washington so desires, it will intervene no matter what Ma or anyone else says. It's bad enough that these irresponsible words are said in a public forum, but let's not add to the silliness by giving them front page status.
“If by including such words in the National Day address Ma intends to make the cross-strait issue an internal matter and not open to international interference, it would cause serious repercussions in the days to come,” said Wong Ming-hsien (翁明賢), director of Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies.
Pointing to the fact that Taiwan is not a part of the UN, and the Ma administration’s inclination to make the cross-strait issue an internal issue rather than international, Wong said that in the event of a military conflict over the Taiwan Strait, neither Japan nor the US would have grounds to intervene.
The scholar also said that the stall in arms shows the US is holding back and observing, implying it is because of Ma. Alas, the stall predates Ma...
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Daily Links:
- China Policy Institute: Is ICAO Assembly Attendance a step forward or backward?
- China Policy Institute: Jon Sullivan on Ma's 10/10 speech. Don't miss it.
- Chinese Tourists seen damaging historical site
- QuirkyTaiwan: the 'savage' women of Taiwan
- Brian on the truths and myths of Air-Sea battle
- The DPP is initiating a no-confidence motion in the government. Yawn.
- Cold Front moving in.
- Taiwan bees under threat from viruses
- WantWant says a US default could devastate Taiwan
- APARC's Taiwan democracy forum
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1 comment:
Actually the words of Wong Ming-hsien reads like he is copying the remarks of 南方朔, or vice versa. I just read it today that 南方朔 made a similar remark, except he used the words 騙來騙去. Roughly means 'lie to everyone'.
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