With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine compounding the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, most world leaders are not in an optimistic mood, as they face days of turmoil and economic stress.
Amid these challenges, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強), in his annual report to the Chinese National People’s Congress on March 5, said that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims for “stability” in its relations with Taiwan and the world. Surprisingly perhaps, Li mentioned “stability” 81 times.
Li’s focus raised a few eyebrows, as China is typically a nation bent on growth. Granted, most countries seek stable economies and few would choose
Last week Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker and party strategist Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁), stimulated like all us by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, argued in the legislature that Taiwan should follow “the Finnish model” and not be a “front-line country.”
Ironically, as he was making that argument, Finland, which already cooperates closely with NATO, was debating becoming a NATO member.
Fu’s remark was laughably out of touch with history. Finland became “Finlandized” only after fighting a bitter war against the Russians. Moreover, the Soviet Union agreed to recognize the independent sovereignty of Finland as part of the deal.
Imagine Beijing formally
Taiwanese's choices when romanizing their names or choosing foreign ones are as creative and individual as the Taiwanese themselves | 2022-02-22 19:15:00