Free Republic

The U.S. is running out of time to prevent a cataclysmic war in the Western Pacific. While the world has been focused on Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, Xi Jinping appears to be preparing for an even more consequential onslaught against Taiwan. Mr. Xi’s China is fueled by a dangerous mix of strength and weakness: Faced with profound economic, demographic and strategic problems, it will be tempted to use its burgeoning military power to transform the existing order while it still has the opportunity.This peaking-power syndrome—the tendency for rising states to become more aggressive as they become more fearful of...

Taiwan has angrily demand that Apple Inc. alter its new map application, which identifies the island nation as a province of China. Users of the iOS 7 and version 10.9 of OS X for the new iPhone and computers have discovered that any search for "Taiwan" automatically produced simplified Chinese characters that read "China Taiwan province." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei instructed its office in San Francisco to demand that Apple make an immediate correction to the software. "We have made representations to Apple," Kelly Hsieh, head of the ministry's Department of North American Affairs, told reporters in...

TAIPEI--Taiwan and China should work together to explore the possibility of building natural gas pipelines across the Taiwan Strait, the vice chairman of Taiwan's Chinatrust Financial Holding Co. said Sunday at a bilateral forum in Nanning, China. Such pipelines will allow Taiwan easier access to natural gas, Hsueh Hsiang-chuan said at the ninth Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum, a key platform for communication between Taiwan and China's ruling parties, in Guangxi Province. Hsueh, a former secretary-general of the Executive Yuan, urged the two sides to conduct joint research on natural gas pipelines as part of the effort to address...

For 40 years, Wu Wei-tung's family has operated a traditional Chinese medicine wholesale and retail business on Taipei's well-known Dihua Street. The shop is stacked with cans and jars full of herbs, and it employs Mr Wu, his brother and his father. But they fear it may soon have to shut down. That is because a trade agreement, signed between Taiwan and mainland China earlier this year, could see Chinese medicine suppliers selling directly to shops in Taiwan. Right now, businesses such as Mr Wu's import most of their medicine from the mainland. But Mr Wu says if the agreement...

Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou on Thursday said people in Taiwan and the Chinese mainland all belong to the Chinese nation and the relation between the two sides is not an international one. After five years of endeavor, the Taiwan Strait has become the most peaceful and prosperous channel in Asia, Ma said in an open speech. Based on the "1992 Consensus," the two sides of the Strait have signed 19 agreements over the last five years, and cross-Strait exchanges are being carried out through direct air and shipping links, tourism and cooperation in judicial and economic fields, he said. Ma...

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - A celebrated Taiwanese film director apologized for letting an award-winning Chinese photographer use false papers to visit a Taiwanese naval base while scouting sights for a new feature film. Niu Chen-zer apologized for his "negligence" in not paying attention to government regulations barring mainland Chinese from entering sensitive military establishments, according to a statement by Atom Cinema, the producer of Niu's "Military Paradise" which is scheduled to begin shooting next month. "I might have gone overboard in order to make a better film," Niu said on his Facebook page. The photographer, Cao Yu, visited the Tsoying...

Taiwan’s key economic indicators moved sideways along the bottom of an L-shaped line in the first half of the year and may fail to pick up significantly if exports to China continue to fall in the second half, UBS Securities Asia said in a recent report. The nation’s growth momentum neither picked up nor deteriorated in the second quarter as a result of two opposing forces — a resilient US and a surprisingly weak China — driving external demand for Taiwan’s exports, the Swiss financial services provider said. “We see a downside to our prediction of 3 percent growth for...

China is developing drones to spy on Taiwan, a study from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission indicates. “When fully integrated into the force structure, these Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) will improve the PLA’s [People’s Liberation Army] ability to assess US and Taiwan military force posture and intent and to employ long-range weapons systems,” the study says. Written by policy analyst Kimberly Hsu and titled China’s Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Industry, the study was prepared for the US Congress. According to the study, Beijing employs UAVs in a wide range of missions, though the extent to which it does...

President reaffirms sovereignty STANDING UP: In an interview with a US think tank, Chen urged Beijing to face up to the reality of the cross-strait relationship and recognize the ROC CNA Thursday, Jan 23, 2003,Page 1 President Chen Shui-bian (³¯¤ô«ó) has told a US think tank that Taiwan is not part, province or local government of any other country. In an interview with Harvey Sicherman, president of the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), Chen urged the Beijing government to face up to the reality of the existence of the ROC as a sovereign state and to resume bilateral dialogue as...