08-21-2018, 10:53 PM
*** 22-Aug-18 World View -- Taiwan says that China is 'out of control' after El Salvador switches allegiance
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** El Salvador receives harsh criticism for switching allegiance from Taiwan to China
****
![[Image: g180821b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180821b.jpg)
El Salvador's foreign minister Carlos Castaneda and China's foreign minister Wang Yi share a toast in Beijing on Tuesday (Reuters)
El Salvador's president Salvador Sanchez Ceren announced Monday night
in a televised address that his country would end diplomatic relations
with Taiwan, and will establish diplomatic relations with China.
China refuses to have diplomatic relations with any nation that has
diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and force countries to choose.
China has been using a variety of economic incentives, threats and
sanctions on numerous countries to force them to switch diplomatic
relations from Taiwan to China. Since the beginning of 2016, when
Taiwan's current president Tsai Ing-wen took office, four other
countries previously switched -- Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic,
Sao Tome and Principe and Panama.
The Pacific Ocean island of Palau, which has diplomatic relations with
Taiwan, is under tremendous pressure from China to switch. In order
to pressure Palau, China banned tour groups from China from using
Palau as a destination. The ban has devastated the tourist industry
in Palau, cutting the number of tourists in half.
China's foreign ministry defended their practice of using economic
pressure with a statement saying, "The one China principle is the
pre-condition and political foundation for China to maintain and
develop friendly cooperative relations with all countries around the
world."
This wording is similar to statements by Chinese officials with regard
to China's illegal activities in the South China Sea. China has
militarily threatened other nations and has prevented other nations
from exploiting fishing and drilling for oil in their own territorial
waters. China says that there's no problem as long as each country
maintains friendly, cooperative relations, which is China's way of
saying, "Do as I say or we'll kill you."
The announcement by El Salvador's president was particularly
contentious, since Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said El
Salvador repeatedly asked for a “large amount of funding” to develop
its La Unión port, but Taipei declined since it decided it was an
unrealistic project and could generate high debts for the two states.
El Salvador's presidential spokesman said that Taiwan's allegations
were totally false, but then seemed to confirm the allegations by
saying, "We cannot turn our back on the world, ignore that China is
the second largest power in the world and the leading export economy
on the planet. It is key for our country."
Opposition lawmaker Margarita Escobar said: "The position from Taiwan
is that [the El Salvador governing party] asked it for money to
finance the campaign in 2019. That is called selling sovereignty and
allowing another state to intervene in the internal affairs of El
Salvador."
The United States ambassador to El Salvador, Jean Manes, is expressing
concern that China plans to use the new relationship with El Salvador
to build a Chinese military base there. "Without a doubt, this will
impact our relationship with the government. We continue supporting
the Salvadoran people." Senator Marco Rubio is planning a bill to end
foreign aid to El Salvador. AP and Hong Kong Free Press and Reuters and South China Morning Post
****
**** Taiwan's Tsai Ing-wen says that China is 'out of control'
****
Since 1992, China, Taiwan and the US have adopted the "One China
Consensus," which says that there is just one China, be leaves
ambiguous what that means. However, since winning the presidential
election early in 2016, Tsai Ing-wen has refused to endorse the 1992
consensus, instead saying that she "respected ... the common
understanding" between China and Taiwan, without saying what that
means.
This refusal has infuriated China, which has mounted a series of
increasingly belligerent measures to threaten Taiwan. These measure
include staging naval and warplane military drills around Taiwan, and
also waging economic warfare by blocking Taiwan from attending a
growing list of international events, and by using economic threats to
force countries to switch diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China.
In July, China forced the East Asian Olympic Committees (EAOC) to
cancel Taiwan as host of the 2019 East Asian Youth Games. The EAOC
made the announcement with no prior notice and no explanation.
Last week, the 85C Bakery, a Taiwan coffee chain with stores in
America and China, was dropped from all Chinese meal-ordering
platforms, after Tsai Ing-wen visited one of its stores in Los
Angeles. The firm earns more than 60 percent of its revenue in China,
and losing its presence on food delivery apps would be devastating.
In 2005, China passed the Anti-Secession Law,
which orders the army to invade Taiwan if any
Taiwanese official makes any move toward independence, whether by word
or by deed. So Taiwan authorities have been careful since then not to
say anything that might trigger the Anti-Secession law although, in
fact, over the years of things have been said which could arguable
trigger it.
So Tsai's words following El Salvador's announcement were considerably
harsher than we usually hear from Taiwanese officials. She vowed to
fight China’s "increasingly out of control" behavior:
<QUOTE>"China nowadays is not only a threat to cross-strait
peace. What China has been doing now globally – interfering in
other countries’ internal affairs and destroying the order of the
international market – have caused high levels of global
instability....
We have to remind the international community once again – that
this is not only a matter for Taiwan. The situation is so dire
that we cannot tolerate it anymore."<END QUOTE>
The question here is whether Tsai's remarks fit the requirements to
trigger a Chinese invasion under the anti-secession law. The
statement that China is interfering in "other countries' internal
affairs" could refer to Taiwan.
At any rate, it's significant that the level of harshness is
increasing. Taiwan is now discussing taking retaliatory measures
against China. The particular issue is that China has suddenly begun
demanding that any international airline that lists "Taiwan" as a
destination must change it to "China Taiwan" or be blocked from
landing in China.
This has infuriated the Taiwanese, and has led Taiwan to consider
counter-measures against airlines that comply with China's demands.
According to Taiwanese media:
<QUOTE>"The Civil Aviation Administration of China recently
sent a letter to 44 foreign airlines requesting that Taiwan not be
reclassified as a "state" and must be named "China Taiwan". 44
foreign airlines have all changed on the July 25 deadline. The
Ministry of Communications recently studied the countermeasures
against the airlines that added the name of "China" to Taiwan's
title, and considered punishing the practice of not allowing
bridges and adjusting time zones [forcing airline passengers to
board and deplane farther from the terminal, and at less
convenient times]....
Officials from the Ministry of Communications said that foreign
airlines have ignored reality and succumbed to China's political
pressure, which has seriously hurt Taiwan's dignity and national
sentiments. There are many counter-measures that we can take, and
various schemes will be evaluated by the Ministry of
Communications....
[Taiwan official] Wu Hongmou said in an interview today that
Taiwan is a sovereign and independent country, but it has been
renamed by foreign airlines. "We can't accept it, and it is
necessary to counter it."<END QUOTE>
The statement that "Taiwan is a sovereign and independent country" is
accepted as truth by many Taiwanese, but saying it represents a major
hardening of positions on the Taiwan side, just as China is becoming
increasingly arrogant and contemptuous, and taking increasingly
offensive and belligerent actions. This is a typical tit-for-tat
pattern that leads to a major war in a generational Crisis era, when
xenophobia and nationalism are at a peak in all countries.
By the way, I hope that there's nobody left who believes that China
will never invade Taiwan because it's bad for business. History has
shown that a business relationship makes a war MORE likely, since the
business relationship can be used as an additional weapon of war,
through such things as tariffs, blockades and boycotts. I doubt that
a business relationship has ever prevented any war in history.
Hong Kong Free Press and Focus Taiwan and
AFP and Hong Kong Free Press and United Daily News (Taiwan)
(Trans)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, China,
El Salvador, Sanchez Ceren, Carlos Castaneda, Wang Yi,
Palau, Joseph Wu, Jean Manes, Marco Rubio, Margarita Escobar,
East Asian Olympic Committees, EAOC, 85C Bakery,
anti-secession law
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- El Salvador receives harsh criticism for switching allegiance from Taiwan to China
- Taiwan's Tsai Ing-wen says that China is 'out of control'
****
**** El Salvador receives harsh criticism for switching allegiance from Taiwan to China
****
El Salvador's foreign minister Carlos Castaneda and China's foreign minister Wang Yi share a toast in Beijing on Tuesday (Reuters)
El Salvador's president Salvador Sanchez Ceren announced Monday night
in a televised address that his country would end diplomatic relations
with Taiwan, and will establish diplomatic relations with China.
China refuses to have diplomatic relations with any nation that has
diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and force countries to choose.
China has been using a variety of economic incentives, threats and
sanctions on numerous countries to force them to switch diplomatic
relations from Taiwan to China. Since the beginning of 2016, when
Taiwan's current president Tsai Ing-wen took office, four other
countries previously switched -- Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic,
Sao Tome and Principe and Panama.
The Pacific Ocean island of Palau, which has diplomatic relations with
Taiwan, is under tremendous pressure from China to switch. In order
to pressure Palau, China banned tour groups from China from using
Palau as a destination. The ban has devastated the tourist industry
in Palau, cutting the number of tourists in half.
China's foreign ministry defended their practice of using economic
pressure with a statement saying, "The one China principle is the
pre-condition and political foundation for China to maintain and
develop friendly cooperative relations with all countries around the
world."
This wording is similar to statements by Chinese officials with regard
to China's illegal activities in the South China Sea. China has
militarily threatened other nations and has prevented other nations
from exploiting fishing and drilling for oil in their own territorial
waters. China says that there's no problem as long as each country
maintains friendly, cooperative relations, which is China's way of
saying, "Do as I say or we'll kill you."
The announcement by El Salvador's president was particularly
contentious, since Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said El
Salvador repeatedly asked for a “large amount of funding” to develop
its La Unión port, but Taipei declined since it decided it was an
unrealistic project and could generate high debts for the two states.
El Salvador's presidential spokesman said that Taiwan's allegations
were totally false, but then seemed to confirm the allegations by
saying, "We cannot turn our back on the world, ignore that China is
the second largest power in the world and the leading export economy
on the planet. It is key for our country."
Opposition lawmaker Margarita Escobar said: "The position from Taiwan
is that [the El Salvador governing party] asked it for money to
finance the campaign in 2019. That is called selling sovereignty and
allowing another state to intervene in the internal affairs of El
Salvador."
The United States ambassador to El Salvador, Jean Manes, is expressing
concern that China plans to use the new relationship with El Salvador
to build a Chinese military base there. "Without a doubt, this will
impact our relationship with the government. We continue supporting
the Salvadoran people." Senator Marco Rubio is planning a bill to end
foreign aid to El Salvador. AP and Hong Kong Free Press and Reuters and South China Morning Post
****
**** Taiwan's Tsai Ing-wen says that China is 'out of control'
****
Since 1992, China, Taiwan and the US have adopted the "One China
Consensus," which says that there is just one China, be leaves
ambiguous what that means. However, since winning the presidential
election early in 2016, Tsai Ing-wen has refused to endorse the 1992
consensus, instead saying that she "respected ... the common
understanding" between China and Taiwan, without saying what that
means.
This refusal has infuriated China, which has mounted a series of
increasingly belligerent measures to threaten Taiwan. These measure
include staging naval and warplane military drills around Taiwan, and
also waging economic warfare by blocking Taiwan from attending a
growing list of international events, and by using economic threats to
force countries to switch diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China.
In July, China forced the East Asian Olympic Committees (EAOC) to
cancel Taiwan as host of the 2019 East Asian Youth Games. The EAOC
made the announcement with no prior notice and no explanation.
Last week, the 85C Bakery, a Taiwan coffee chain with stores in
America and China, was dropped from all Chinese meal-ordering
platforms, after Tsai Ing-wen visited one of its stores in Los
Angeles. The firm earns more than 60 percent of its revenue in China,
and losing its presence on food delivery apps would be devastating.
In 2005, China passed the Anti-Secession Law,
which orders the army to invade Taiwan if any
Taiwanese official makes any move toward independence, whether by word
or by deed. So Taiwan authorities have been careful since then not to
say anything that might trigger the Anti-Secession law although, in
fact, over the years of things have been said which could arguable
trigger it.
So Tsai's words following El Salvador's announcement were considerably
harsher than we usually hear from Taiwanese officials. She vowed to
fight China’s "increasingly out of control" behavior:
<QUOTE>"China nowadays is not only a threat to cross-strait
peace. What China has been doing now globally – interfering in
other countries’ internal affairs and destroying the order of the
international market – have caused high levels of global
instability....
We have to remind the international community once again – that
this is not only a matter for Taiwan. The situation is so dire
that we cannot tolerate it anymore."<END QUOTE>
The question here is whether Tsai's remarks fit the requirements to
trigger a Chinese invasion under the anti-secession law. The
statement that China is interfering in "other countries' internal
affairs" could refer to Taiwan.
At any rate, it's significant that the level of harshness is
increasing. Taiwan is now discussing taking retaliatory measures
against China. The particular issue is that China has suddenly begun
demanding that any international airline that lists "Taiwan" as a
destination must change it to "China Taiwan" or be blocked from
landing in China.
This has infuriated the Taiwanese, and has led Taiwan to consider
counter-measures against airlines that comply with China's demands.
According to Taiwanese media:
<QUOTE>"The Civil Aviation Administration of China recently
sent a letter to 44 foreign airlines requesting that Taiwan not be
reclassified as a "state" and must be named "China Taiwan". 44
foreign airlines have all changed on the July 25 deadline. The
Ministry of Communications recently studied the countermeasures
against the airlines that added the name of "China" to Taiwan's
title, and considered punishing the practice of not allowing
bridges and adjusting time zones [forcing airline passengers to
board and deplane farther from the terminal, and at less
convenient times]....
Officials from the Ministry of Communications said that foreign
airlines have ignored reality and succumbed to China's political
pressure, which has seriously hurt Taiwan's dignity and national
sentiments. There are many counter-measures that we can take, and
various schemes will be evaluated by the Ministry of
Communications....
[Taiwan official] Wu Hongmou said in an interview today that
Taiwan is a sovereign and independent country, but it has been
renamed by foreign airlines. "We can't accept it, and it is
necessary to counter it."<END QUOTE>
The statement that "Taiwan is a sovereign and independent country" is
accepted as truth by many Taiwanese, but saying it represents a major
hardening of positions on the Taiwan side, just as China is becoming
increasingly arrogant and contemptuous, and taking increasingly
offensive and belligerent actions. This is a typical tit-for-tat
pattern that leads to a major war in a generational Crisis era, when
xenophobia and nationalism are at a peak in all countries.
By the way, I hope that there's nobody left who believes that China
will never invade Taiwan because it's bad for business. History has
shown that a business relationship makes a war MORE likely, since the
business relationship can be used as an additional weapon of war,
through such things as tariffs, blockades and boycotts. I doubt that
a business relationship has ever prevented any war in history.
Hong Kong Free Press and Focus Taiwan and
AFP and Hong Kong Free Press and United Daily News (Taiwan)
(Trans)
Related Articles
- New Taiwan poll shows overwhelming support for independence from China (02-Jun-2016)
- China says that its military exercises are intended to threaten Taiwan (17-May-2018)
- Taiwan says it must defend against increasingly threatening China (18-Mar-2017)
- In a major victory for China, Panama switches allegiance from Taiwan to China (14-Jun-2017)
- China's 'Anti-secession law' provokes massive Taiwan riots (27-Mar-2005)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, China,
El Salvador, Sanchez Ceren, Carlos Castaneda, Wang Yi,
Palau, Joseph Wu, Jean Manes, Marco Rubio, Margarita Escobar,
East Asian Olympic Committees, EAOC, 85C Bakery,
anti-secession law
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
