To Cope with the North Korea Nuclear Crisis, President Tsai Must Play Her Cards Well

 To Cope with the North Korea Nuclear Crisis, President Tsai Must Play Her Cards Well

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

September 18, 2017

 Translation of an Excerpt

North Korea again launched a ballistic missile over Japanese airspace, impacting the security and stability of Northeast Asia. After hearing the National Security Council report, President Tsai indicated that with respect to the North Korean authorities disregard of international opposition and United Nations resolutions, repeatedly undermined regional security and stability with military threats, and the ROC government strongly condemned such moves. At the same time, the ROC government would also, with all efforts, collaborate with Resolution 2375 adopted by the UN Security Council, fully implementing the related measures of sanction. However, the Tsai government's indication of stance was ridiculed by the media, on the other hand, as "young literati-style empty shell," it being fundamentally irrelevant vis-à-vis the dissolution of the North Korean nuclear crisis, even bordering on using the occasion to subserviently support the Trump government, which might be detrimental to Taiwan's overall security and strategic deployment.

General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, in mid-August visited Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo to discuss the issue of North Korea’s nuclear and missile crisis, and signed with China “the Joint Staff Dialogue Mechanism” between the Joint Chiefs of Staff of China and the US, but he could not make a stop-over in Taipei, underscoring the sharp gap in the weighted interests of the trilateral structure among the United States, China and Taiwan; it also reminds President Tsai Ing-wen that she should not harbor unrealistic expectations vis-à-vis elevating Taiwan-US relations, either in quality or quantity.

Currently, the structural problems in cross-Strait relations remain without a solution because of the stalemate over the issue of sovereignty; however, maintaining peace and stability in East Asia, seeking time to deal with thorny economic development and domestic issues, and social issues, has become the shared needs of leaders across the Strait. President Tsai must insist on the position of self-identity in accordance with the "Constitution of the Republic of China," using wisdom for a balanced strategy, adopting a main axis for national security strategy of “at peace with China and friendly to the US,” and urging related countries in Northeast Asia to adopt "dual suspension," allowing the North Korean nuclear crisis to lower its temperature, and then return to the track of dialogue and consultations in lieu of military confrontation. Thus, it will not only allow Taiwan to march forward in peace and avoid disaster, but also explore new opportunities for developing cross-Strait relations.

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