Growing tensions with Taiwan
Politics & Current Affairs
Top politics and current affairs news for March 20, 2017. Part of the daily The China Projectย news roundup "Will Trump go to Beijing before Xi goes to Mar-a-Lago?"
- Beijing piling on pressure against Taiwan independence: MACย / China Post (Taiwan)
Taiwanโs Mainland Affairs Council (MAC; ้ๅงไผ lรน wฤihuรฌ) released a report on Sunday that โpaints a bleak outlook for the thawing of the cross-strait freeze,โ and says that relations between the P.R.C. and Taiwan are in โa regressive state.โ The report cites Chinaโs increased censorship of โtopics related to Taiwanese independence,โ political preconditions on cross-strait interactions, and restrictions on travel by mainland Chinese to Taiwan. Meanwhile, the BBCย reportsย that Taiwan has accused China of stepping up its espionage activities on the island, while the Taiwan Sentinelย notesย that Taiwanโs Ministry of National Defense โconfirmed for the first time that China has deployed and is targeting the island-nation with the advanced Dong Feng 16 (DF-16) ballistic missile.โ
The China Postย also reports that activists in Taipei gathered on Sunday to protest the ruling โDemocratic Progressive Partyโs (DPP) โslow progressโ in enacting a law to make negotiations between the government and Beijing more transparent.โ The demonstration marked the third anniversary of the Sunflower Movement, which was formed by activists uncomfortable with Taiwanโs growing reliance on trade with China. - Has Xi Jinping gotten his crown?ย / China Media Project
David Bandurski parses the language that came out of the Two Sessionsย meetings that ended last week, and suggests that we may be witnessing โXiโs crowning as a paramount leader to guide China through a new period of historical transition.โ
- Chinese defense minister to visit Sri Lanka, Nepalย / Channel News Asia
- Duterte: Philippines canโt stop China moves in disputed seaย / FT (paywall)
- This visualization shows Chinaโs jailed, murdered and missing political prisonersย / Huffington Post
- Tensions rising as Chinese no longer willing to hold their breath on pollution problemsย / Globe and Mail
