Tag: Taiwan

You can read the whole article at the link, but I would speculate that China has been playing the “North Korea card” for years considering they have done little to nothing to stop North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs:

– China could exercise a veto against any new U.N. sanctions on North Korea, ignore existing sanctions and even accept the communist neighbor as a nuclear state if the incoming administration of Donald Trump plays the “Taiwan card,” a U.S. expert said.

Trump sparked China’s anger by accepting a call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen earlier this month in breach of the decades-long diplomatic tradition that the U.S. has kept under its “One China” policy since severing ties with Taiwan and normalizing relations with Beijing.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province that must be unified with the mainland and rails against any support for Taiwan’s independence or the notion that the island is not part of the country. Despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties, the U.S. has maintained friendly relations with Taiwan.

On Sunday, Trump went a step further, saying he doesn’t understand “why we have to be bound by a One China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade.” The remark suggests Trump could use the Taiwan card in dealings with Beijing.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.

Here is the latest on the Trump phone call with the President of Taiwan that the media was initially trying to frame as him bungling US foreign policy:

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s phone call with Taiwan’s president shows the incoming administration believes China should work hard on North Korea as much as it cares about the cross-strait issue, a transition team official was quoted as saying Tuesday.

The official made the remark during a meeting with a group of South Korean lawmakers, pointing out that China has been unwilling to use its influence over Pyongyang even though Beijing provides most of the North’s energy and food supplies, according to the participating lawmakers.

They declined to identify the official.

On Friday, Trump spoke by phone with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, breaking the decadeslong diplomatic tradition that the U.S. has kept under its “One China” policy since severing ties with Taiwan and normalizing relations with Beijing.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province that must be unified with the mainland and rails against any support for Taiwan’s independence or the notion that the island is not part of the country. Despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties, the U.S. has maintained friendly relations with Taiwan.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Trump's call with Taiwan's president broke decades of diplomatic protocol. Why isn't Beijing more angry? https://t.co/Kc68V19EVP

— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) December 3, 2016

Chocolate ice cream poo served in a squat #toilet @moderntoilettw #yum #food #foodie #foodpprn #dessert #taiwan #ta… pic.twitter.com/3MP8hIqZQr

— Christine Ka'aloa 🦋👽 (@ckaaloa) July 25, 2016

A couple of questions to think about is would the Chinese go to war to stop Taiwan from moving towards formal independence and if so should the US go all in to defeat a Chinese attack?:

China’s President Xi Jinping has pledged to contain any moves by Taiwan toward formal independence in his first public remarks on the issue since the self-governing island democracy elected a president and legislature from the independence-leaning party in January.

Speaking to delegates to the annual meeting of China’s ceremonial parliament, Xi said China won’t budge in its insistence that Taiwan recognize it is part of China, regardless of political changes on the island of 23 million.

“We will resolutely contain Taiwan independence secessionist activities in any form,” Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency at their meeting Saturday. “We will safeguard the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and never allow the historical tragedy of national secession to happen again.”

The landslide election of Tsai Ing-wen as president, along with a legislative majority for her Democratic Progressive Party, has thrown a question mark over the future of relations between the sides.

Tsai, who won’t be inaugurated until May, takes over from China-friendly Nationalist Party President Ma Ying-jeou, who oversaw the signing of a series of agreements during his eight years in power establishing closer economic ties between the sides.  [Washington Post]

You can read more at the link.

Tzuyu, shown in the photo, of K-pop girl group TWICE will temporarily suspend appearances in China after she became mired in a controversy for waving the Taiwanese national flag in an online broadcast in South Korea, according to her agency in Seoul on Jan. 14, 2016. She waved the flag while appearing in a popular TV show “My Little Television” in November last year, the portion of which was not aired on the terrestrial channel but was seen belatedly by online viewers in China. Her agency, JYP Entertainment, said it does not promote political agendas and expressed regret over the controversy. Tzuyu is a Taiwanese native in the multinational, nine-member girl group. (Photo provided by JYP Entertainment) (Yonhap)

We assessed improvements in #China's ability to challenge U.S. air ops by attacking air bases: http://t.co/9IgspN2Bx9 pic.twitter.com/ky3fkoJVkO

— RAND (@RANDCorporation) September 19, 2015

A woman dubbed the ‘McDonald’s Goddess’ for her striking looks has been the cause of a surge of sales at a Taiwan branch of the fast food restaurant.

Wei Han Xu has become an Internet icon after pictures of her, including the one above, were shared online by blogger RainDog.

Photos showed her serving customers and buttoning up her shirt while she stood behind the counter.

Rather than wearing an unflattering work outfit, Xu is seen wearing a short skirt and fierce high-heel shoes as she cleans the counter and serves up Big Macs.

Smitten fans became obsessed with finding out where their McDonald’s goddess worked and they poured into the restaurant once they found out.

Doll-like Xu – who is also known as WeiWei – is fine with the fame, having already appeared on Taiwanese game shows. [Tumblr]

Could you imagine the feminist reaction in the US if a McDonald’s tried to have their workers dress in a maid outfit?

USFK and Korean officials are meeting today to define the future USFK role in Korea.

South Korean and U.S. officials will hold the first Security Policy Initiative meeting today at the Defense Ministry aimed at refining the alliance and the future role of U.S. military forces. South Korea is also forming a task force to study a possible regional role of the U.S. military’s forces stationed here, according to officials. South Korea is reportedly concerned that it could be unwillingly sucked into a conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan.

This is a very sensitive issue since it deals with whether we allow the Korean Peninsula to become a strategic global military base for U.S. forces,” said a government official. “It is closely linked to the future strategic situation of the Korean Peninsula and the alliance with the United States.”

The official added the government was considering allowing a regional role for U.S. forces here except in a conflict between China and Taiwan. Now, however, the government is studying all possible conflicts and what role it would play if the United States wanted to dispatch troops based here.  Another government official warned the United States could drastically reduce its forces if South Korea doesn’t approve a regional role for them.