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Weekly Report from Taiwan Security Research (Mar. 8, 2009)
For full text, click on the title or visit the TSR web page at taiwansecurity.org
ECFA and Cross-Strait Issues
Taiwan
Renames Trade Pact
(Strait
Times, Mar. 2, 2009) The four-letter acronym of a
proposed trade pact with China has sparked such a storm in Taiwan that the government had to
change its name.
China: Economic Zone Proposed
with Taiwan
(New
York Times, Mar. 3, 2009) The Chinese People’s
Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body
in Beijing, will receive a proposal to
set up a “cross-straits economic zone” with Taiwan.
Premier Denies ‘Political’
Bias in ECFA Plan
(Taipei
Times, Mar. 4, 2009) Premier Liu Chao-shiuan promised not to
sign an “economic cooperation framework agreement”
(ECFA) with China under a “political” framework
amid opposition lawmakers’ concerns that the nation
would not have equal footing with China.
Taiwan Should Bundle Trade
Pact Talks: Scholars
(CNA,
Mar. 5, 2009) Scholars suggested that the proposed
economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA)
with China should be promoted in tandem
with economic talks with other countries.
Signing ECFA with No. 1 Export
Market Vital to Taiwan Trade: Ma
(China Post, Mar. 8, 2009) President
Ma Ying-jeou stressed
that as mainland China is Taiwan's largest export
market, signing an ECFA with China can help to
normalize cross-strait economic and trade ties.
China Says Ready to Talk to
Taiwan, End Hostility
(AP,
Mar. 5, 2009) China's Premier Wen
Jiabao said that Beijing is ready to hold talks with Taiwan on political and military
issues in the pursuit of ending hostility between
the longtime rivals.
Taiwan Says It Is Not Ready
for Peace Talks with China By Jane Rickards and Ariana Eunjung Cha (Washington
Post, Mar. 6, 2009) Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou ruled out any near-term
prospect of peace talks with China, saying relations are too tenuous
to consider discussing political or military
issues.
A Muted Call from China to
Taiwan By Keith Bradsher
(International
Herald Tribune, Mar. 5, 2009) Prime Minister Wen Jiabao
offered few specifics on resolving the two sides'
most intractable differences and conspicuously
omitted a previous suggestion by Hu Jintao
for improving communication on
military issues.
Taiwanese Official Indicated
on Spying for China
(AP,
Mar. 6, 2009) A senior employee of Taiwan's presidential office was
indicted Friday on charges of providing classified
information to rival China.
DPP Objects to Former Vice
President Lu Visiting China
(China
Post, Mar. 7, 2009) The pro-independence camp
voiced objection to former Vice President Annette
Lu's plan to visit China, but she said the opposition
needs to play an active role monitoring
cross-strait relations.
U.S. Policy and U.S.-China Engagement
Cross-Strait
Moderation and the United States—Policy Adjustments Needed By Robert Sutter (PacNet #17, Mar. 5,
2009) U.S. policy supports President Ma Ying-jeou’s efforts to ease tensions in the Taiwan Strait through moderation and accommodation. But the
resulting change in cross-Strait power dynamics may also necessitate
some reconsideration of U.S. policy viz-a-viz China and Taiwan.
Taiwan Not
a Obstacle to PRC-US Military Talk By William Lowther
(Taipei Times, Mar. 6, 2009) The
macro-view of US-China relations encompasses many areas of strategic
alignment and cooperative efforts on profoundly important international
security issues where expanded Chinese influence is not feared but
welcomed.
PLA
China Says
to Boost Defense Spending in 2009
(AP, Mar. 3, 2009) China announced
plans to boost military spending by 14.9 percent this year, but noted
that much of it was for salaries and said there was no need for other
countries to be fearful.
The
Future of Chinese Deterrence Strategy By Michael S. Chase, Andrew Erickson, and Christopher Yeaw (China Brief, Jamestown Foundation, Mar. 4, 2009) China is moving toward a much more survivable and thus
more credible, strategic nuclear posture with the development of the
road-mobile DF-31 and DF-31A ICBMs and the JL-2 SLBM.
China
Must Build Aircraft Carrier ‘Soon’ Military Says
(Telegraph, Mar. 6, 2009) China must build an aircraft carrier "soon" if
it wants to be taken seriously as a global superpower, a Chinese
military official has said.
Taiwan's Domestic Issues
TVBS
Public Opinion Poll
(TVBS Public Opinion Poll Center,
Mar. 2, 2009) The survey was conducted on the satisfaction ratings of
the Ma government and on issues associated with the possibility of
signing of CECA with China.
China's Rise and Domestic Issues
Wen
Warns Economic Crisis Spreading in China
(AP, Mar. 1, 2009) Premier Wen Jiabao warned that
the impact of the global financial crisis was still spreading in China and the country faces the long and arduous task
of combating its effects.
In
China, Despair Mounting Among Migrant Workers By Ariana Eunjung
Cha (Washington Post, Mar. 4, 2009) Six months into what
economists and labor experts say is China's worst job crisis since it began market reforms
30 years ago, many among the most vulnerable are becoming desperate.
Party
Elderly Press for Checks on China’s Stimulus Plan By Jonathan Ansfield (New York Times, Mar. 4, 2009) As China’s
government doles out $584 billion to stimulate its ailing economy,
critics inside and outside the Communist Party have pressed for
details about the murky spending plan and demanded the right to
follow the money.
In
Crisis, China Vows Openness By Ariana Eunjung Cha
(Washington Post, Mar. 5, 2009) Wen's
online comments reflect the two-pronged approach Beijing is taking toward growing public unease as more
companies collapse and unemployment grows.
Regional Issues
China
Arms Spend Prompts South Korea Arms Race Warning
(Reuters, Mar. 5, 2009) South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak
warned on Thursday of the danger of a North Asia arms race after China announced another double-digit rise in annual
military spending.
US
Strength Crucial to Asia Peace By James Holmes
(Taipei Times, Mar. 5, 2009)
Should allies and friends in the region conclude the US has become an untrustworthy partner, they will
fend for themselves. That’s the logic of self-help, of threat and
response.
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