Washington less likely to indulge Beijing over its policy after victory of island’s pro-independence party

The Wall Street Journal
Date: Jan. 19, 2016
By: Andrew Browne

TAIPEI—No dogma is more important to Beijing than “One China,” the

Honor guards marched in the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei this week. The Taiwanese increasingly believe they live in a sovereign state, not a ‘renegade province’ of China. Photo: EPA/JEROME FAVRE

concept that Taiwan is a part of a single Chinese nation—just temporarily estranged.

America and much of the rest of the world acquiesce to that position, denying the reality that Taiwan has set its course as an independent state. Last weekend’s vote, in which the Taiwanese electorate overwhelming endorsed a party that rejects Beijing’s “One China” formula, confirmed the direction in the most emphatic way to date. That not only puts China in a bind, but the U.S. too.

Like it or not, the political equation has changed, forcing Washington to look at Taiwan in a different light.

To be sure, an American challenge to the “One China” doctrine is unthinkable. It’s the one move that could realistically provoke a war between the world’s two strongest powers. Yet some diplomats and scholars think that a postelection Taiwan may get more sympathetic treatment in Washington.     [FULL  STORY]

ABC News
Date: Jan 16, 2016
By: christopher bodeen, associated press

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwanese politicians came out in support Saturday of a teenage pop star who was forced to apologize for waving the island’s national flag on a South Korean television program, reigniting the complex issue of national identity on a day when voters are electing a new independence-leaning president and national legislature.

Outgoing President Ma Ying-jeou and candidates from the ruling and opposition parties united behind 16-year-old Chou Tzu-yu — whose stage name is Tzuyu. She posted an online video on Friday in which she bowed and said she had “always been proud to be Chinese.”

The apology came after her South Korean management company said it was curtailing her commercial activities on the Chinese mainland, apparently in response to online commentary in China accusing her of supporting Taiwan independence. The company worried about offending China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and objects to all expressions of the island’s independent identity, including its flag and anthem.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date:  Dec 31, 2015
By: Lee Ying-chien and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Three Chinese exchange students at Kaohsiung’s I-Shou University have

From left, Chinese exchange students Chen Lulu, Chen Cheng and Yuan Yue in Kaohsiung on Monday display postcards they designed and made that depict I-Shou University, which they plan to give to their classmates and teachers before returning to China when the semester ends next month. Photo: Huang Hsu-lei, Taipei Times

made 300 custom-designed postcards to celebrate their time in Taiwan.

The postcards, titled “I was at I-Shou” (i在義守), is a play on the pronunciation of the English “I” and “愛” (Ai, love).

The Chinese students, Chen Lulu (陳璐露) and Chen Cheng (陳騁) from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University and Yuan Yue (袁月) from Shaanxi Province’s Northwest A&F University, said they made the cards as mementos and parting gifts for their university classmates, professors and each other, as their three-month exchange program that started in mid-September is coming to an end.     [FULL  STORY]