US | The View from Taiwan

Entries for the ‘US’ Category

Establishing Trust with the Chinese

Jul.31, 2008 in China, John McCain, Obama, US

Longtime Washington and US government China policy analysts Richard C. Bush and Jeff Bader are out with an all-too Establishment piece that seems to live in its own dreamworld on US-China relations, calling on Obama and McCain to Tread Lightly On China:
The Beijing Olympics coincide with our party conventions heralding the countdown to November’s presidential [...]

Bonnie Glaser for CSIS on Taiwan-China Relations

Apr.30, 2008 in China, Cross-Strait relations, KMT, Ma Ying-jeou, US

The Nelson Report has the latest from CSIS’ Bonnie Glaser on Ma Ying-jeou’s victory and what the US should be doing. Glaser is normally a first class commentator on Taiwan affairs, but this one is well-below her usual standards….
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CHINA-TAIWAN…with President-elect Ma’s inauguration getting closer, Beijing is still locked in a debate over what, and when [...]

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Catapulting the Propaganda

Feb.27, 2008 in China, Kitty Hawk, Taiwan independence, US, media, military and defense

The powerful effect of pro-China propagandizing is seen in this translation of a piece from the Asia Times on the US Nimitz deployment to Japan, arguing that it is linked to the Taiwan election in March:
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz of the US Navy arrived in Japan on 11 February. An analysis maintains that [...]

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Report: US Should Enhance Ties With Taiwan

Feb.23, 2008 in China, Taiwan Relations Act, Taiwan-US relations, US, military and defense

A new report out from the Taiwan Policy Working Group, a joint project of the right-wing American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and Armitage International, argues that the US needs upgrade and expand its ties with Taiwan and stop enabling Beijing’s suppression of Taipei. Taiwan News describes:
The report argues that the issue is urgent now that U.S.-Taiwan [...]

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Views Across the Pacific

Feb.18, 2008 in Taiwan-US relations, US, US Democrats, US conservatives, media, military and defense

After suffering all weekend from cold and food poisoning, Sunday turned out to be a gorgeous day, so I went out and didn’t blog. Meanwhile future Secretary of Something or Other Lief-Eric Eisley has a long and balanced piece commenting on the lack of trust in the US-Taiwan relationship, adapted from a piece that went [...]

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US Busts Chinese Spies Looking for Taiwan Info

Feb.11, 2008 in China, Missiles, US, espionage, military and defense

I drove around town yesterday evening on my way home from another marathon gaming session hosted by Chaon, looking for posters of the Hsieh campaign to photograph for the blog. I’ve seen some lovely Ma campaign posters, but I can’t find any of Hsieh yet. The KMT’s spending advantage is really telling.
Speaking of spending advantages, [...]

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RAND on China’s Pearl Harbor Strategy

Jan.23, 2008 in China, US, military and defense

My thanks to a commenter who provided links to a recent RAND study of a hypothetical US-China conflict over Taiwan. The Air Force Times has a summary:
The democratic Republic of China, commonly called Taiwan — which America backs and the communist People’s Republic of China considers part of its territory — frequently irritates Chinese leaders [...]

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The Kitty Hawk Confrontation Crisis

Jan.15, 2008 in China, Kitty Hawk, US

The China Times reported on this; Kyodo News picked it up:
A Chinese attack submarine and destroyer in November last year shadowed U.S. warships in the Taiwan Strait, sparking a 28-hour standoff that brought the group to a battle-ready halt in the tense waters, a report in a Taiwan daily said Tuesday.
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Defense News: Taiwan’s Declining International Status

Jan.07, 2008 in 2008 Presidential Election, China, US

Wendell Minnick, who writes on Asian defense affairs and is based in our very own Taipei, had an excellent article today in Defense News on Taiwan’s declining international support:
China is having success in its diplomatic and economic campaign to weaken international support for Taiwan, the self-governing island’s de facto ambassador to Washington said.

Joseph Wu, whose [...]

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Globe and Mail: Taiwan Flashpoint 2008 -UPDATED-

Dec.24, 2007 in 2008 Presidential Election, China, DPP, KMT, Mad Chen, State Department, Taiwan independence, US, media

The Globe and Mail is doing a set of pieces on the major world flashpoints. Among them is of course the Taiwan Straits, portrayed here as made dangerous by the recklessness of the dastardly Chen Shui-bian. It’s a good thing those forces for stability, restrained and prudent, are there to keep Mad Chen© in check! [...]

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Stray Media on Taiwan’s Int’l Relations

Dec.21, 2007 in China, DPP, New Zealand, Solomons, South Seas Islands, State Department, UN, US

The always insightful Ting-i Tsai has a commentary in the Asia Times on the recent decision by the US to take a step back on the referendum. He argues that the US has reluctantly decided to live with it:
Burghardt’s approach, which deviated from that of other US officials in recent [...]

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Last Two Nelson Reports: Taiwan Highlights

Dec.20, 2007 in China, DPP, Kitty Hawk, Taiwan independence, UN, US

Chris Nelson of the Nelson Report is back from surgery and once again passing around insight into the Beltway Mind. Here’s his latest excerpt on Taiwan affairs:
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It sounds like the private Chinese discussions of late mirror almost exactly much of the substance of concerns aired at Heritage, including what Taiwan law may require in the [...]

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Nelson Report on China ADIZ route

Dec.13, 2007 in China, US, military and defense

Last week officials in Taipei expressed alarm that China was upsetting the balance in the Taiwan Strait:
Taiwan has expressed concern over China’s plan to draw up an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) within the Taiwan Strait to submit to the International Civil Aviation Organization and pass on to other countries, the government said yesterday.
An ADIZ [...]

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Promises, Promises

Dec.13, 2007 in 2008 Presidential Election, China, Japan, US

This week Chen promised not to declare independence for the remainder of his term, which is kind of like me vowing never to dunk a basketball for the rest of my life.
In an interview with the Associated Press after his meeting with Burghardt, Chen dismissed reports that he was planning to declare independence.
He said such [...]

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US Runs Interference for Beijing Again

Dec.11, 2007 in 2008 Presidential Election, DPP, State Department, UN, US

In the last couple of weeks Tom Christensen of State, Steve Young of our own American Institute in Taiwan (AIT; the officially unofficial US representative organ here), and now Raymond Burghhardt, Chairman of AIT, have told Taiwan the DPP UN referendum is a bad idea. Ralph Jennings of Reuters has the call:
The United States on [...]

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