Tag: Taiwan
Stevenson’s army, July 23
– The forced closure of the consulate in Houston is claimed to be in response to espionage from there. I suspect the real reason is that Houston is the “sister city” to Wuhan, where the US has already abandoned its consulate, thus hoping China would retaliate in kind, closing Wuhan.
– FP says Australia is changing its strategy on China.
– SCMP sees increased danger of US-Chinese war over Taiwan.
– I have a piece in the Hill on the pros and cons of the NDAA
– Fred Kaplan calls for dismantling DHS.
– Politico details gripes about Mrs. Pompeo.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, April 13
– West Coast doing better than East Coast in pandemic. Same with eastern Europe compared to western. As well as Taiwan vs. China.
– WSJ compares US-China competition over technology.
-Oh-oh, Trump retweets fire Fauci tweet.
– Boston hospitals say Chinese masks aren’t good.
– NYT has tick-tock on what happened on the TR.
– New Yorker has long profile of Mitch McConnell.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Taiwan has met the Covid-19 challenge
Despite a 24 million population, Taiwan’s share in the global caseload remains low with 300 cases and 5 fatalities. How did Taiwan respond to COVID-19? What are the implications of its response? On April 9, the Hudson Institute hosted a panel discussion on “Taiwan’s Strong COVID-19 Response: Remarks by Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.” The discussion featured four speakers:
Vincent Chao: Director of the Political Division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States
Patrick Cronin: Senior Fellow and Asia-Pacific Security Chair, Hudson Institute
Rob Spalding: Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
Joseph Wu: Foreign Minister of Taiwan
Seth Cropsey: Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for American Seapower, Hudson Institute, moderated
The Taiwan model
Wu stated that Taiwan is vulnerable due to its proximity to China, lack of access to the WHO, thousands of Taiwanese living and working in Wuhan, and three million visitors from China annually. The pandemic, however, has had only a minor impact on Taiwan. Wu listed steps that Taiwan has done in this crisis taken:
- Quick response: Taiwan’s first response to this pandemic was as early as December 31.
- Early deployment: When the first case showed up on January 21, Taiwan set up CECC (the Central Epidemic Command Center) to authorize border control, body temperature testing, quarantine, and a tracking program.
- Transparency: CECC hosts daily press conference to brief the public domestic and international information.
- Export ban, rationing, and rapid increase of production on critical supplies: Taiwan issued an export ban when the government detected a wave of Chinese procurement.
- Whole-of-government approach: Ministries cooperated to make joint decisions under CECC’s command.
- Rearrangement of the medical institutions to meet the emergency requirements: Taiwan has designated over 160 testing facilities.
- Preventive measures against in-hospital outbreaks
- Contact tracing: Identifying potential cases by tracing contacts.
Wu thinks that Beijing is misleading the public by using conspiracy theories about the origins of the coronavirus and fabricated government proclamations. Taiwan attempts to show that authoritarian regimes are not the only ones that possess resources and capabilities to combat the crisis. A free and open, democratic Taiwan can deal with the problem as well. Taiwan is seeking participation in the WHO since its absence leaves a gap in the global health system and undermines WHO.
Implications
Cronin indicated that the world cannot exclude Taiwan in fighting this pandemic crisis. China should not politicize public health. Taiwan needs a higher status on the global stage to close down flights, tackle the economic crisis, ensure maritime safety, and protect intellectual property.
Chao believes that precaution and overreactions are necessary in this crisis. Taiwan’s national health insurance plays an important role in integrating and visualizing medical records, which gives medical authorities more data about the situation. Chao pointed that the passing of Taipei Act in 2019 was good timing as China was engaging in an aggressive campaign in the South China Sea against Taiwan’s diplomatic allies. This law gives Taiwan a signal that the US can counterbalance pressure that China exerts around the world.
Troops
Cronin emphasized that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might have suffered some readiness problems. It is impossible for the PLA to remain unaffected in this pandemic crisis since it was deployed in the epicenter of the COVID-19. China, nevertheless, might have covered this up because it doesn’t want to undermine the PLA’s deterrence nor tarnish its reputation.
Spalding demonstrated that US Department of Defense has ensured that troops on mission duties are sequestered and kept safe from the pandemic. COVID-19 could be a chance for China, which was pressuring Taiwan, the East China Sea and the South China Sea even before the COVID-19 crisis, to make gains in the Indo-Pacific region. The Defense Department, he said, is ready to deter China’s activities in Western Pacific and defend US allies.
Here’s the video for this panel discussion:
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Stevenson’s army, January 11
– An APSA Task Force has come up with a host of reasonable ideas for reforming Congress, including better staff pay, bringing back earmarks, and an end to votes on the debt limit. Here’s the report, and here a conference at Brookings where it was released.
-There’s pushback on Trump claims that Suleimani was readying attacks on four US embassies.
– Iraq is in the middle, trying to sort out relations with both US and Iran .
– WSJ has more details on backchannel communications between Iran and US.
– Taiwan’s president reelected in landslide.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. If you want to get it directly, To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, November 23
– We’ve talked in class about how presidential perks are part of the chief executive’s toolkit. WaPo has a story about how the White House is using Camp David as a venue for wooing Republicans.
-NYT says US intelligence briefings finger Russia as source of claims of Ukrainian influence in US elections.
-A Chinese defector to Australia details Chinese operations in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
– WSJ reports CFIUS has increased its investigations even before new law took effect.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. If you want to get it directly, To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, August 21
– An article in Washingtonian says “geofencing” is the new tool — putting digital ads in the zipcode where the president is on a given day.
– China plans sanctions in response to US jet sales to Taiwan.
– Lawfare shows Daniel Webster’s changing views on war powers. [BLUF: where you stand depends on where you sit]
– CRS has several interesting recent papers,; check out the ones on national emergency powers, CFIUS, etc.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. If you want to get it directly, To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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