A day after Joe Biden had an apparently amicable phone call with Xi Jinping, the Biden administration was reported to be considering multiple moves that would strain U.S.-China relations.
In recent years, Taiwan has been trying to rectify the wrongs from its โWhite Terrorโ period, nearly four decades of martial law. But critics say the current ruling party, the DPP, is using โtransitional justiceโ as a cudgel against its political opponents.
โWe canโt rely on the U.S.,โ said a senior official from Taiwanโs Ministry of Foreign Affairs on condition of anonymity. Despite the U.S. and Taiwanese governments publicly resisting the comparison โ and many analysts poo-pooing it โ the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan and its dramatic aftermath has fueled fresh doubts in Taipei about American security guarantees.
In response to Lithuania establishing a โTaiwanese representative office,โ China said it would withdraw its envoy to Vilnius, and demanded the Baltic nation recall its ambassador in Beijing. It was not the first time this year that the small EU member state had upset Beijing.
A top U.S. diplomat is heading to China for talks with her counterparts, but no one expects much to change as China-U.S. relations continue to deteriorate.
Chinese leader Xi Jinpingโs message for the nation and the world: The Communist Party is here to stay, inseparable from the Chinese people, and its guidance has been indispensable to Chinaโs โrejuvenationโ and now-unstoppable development.
A recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Taiwan has exposed flaws in the governmentโs pandemic response plans. While the ruling Democratic Progressive Party attempts to get things under control, its political enemies are circling.
In mainland China, fear of Taiwanese independence feeds the fever of traumatized nationalism, unites domestic rivals around a shared national dream, and serves as a never-ending threat that justifies enormous military expenditures โ but not for war.
For the past half-century, Asia Cement has operated a quarry on indigenous land. But recently, the local community has questioned the company's right to do so. The issue will be up for vote in the near future.