TAIPEI: Taiwan on Tuesday said China is seeking to take control of the island by wearing down its military capabilities and influencing public opinion, while avoiding an all-out military conflict that could likely draw in the United States.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a biennial report that Beijing is employing “gray zone” tactics to ratchet up pressure on the self-governing island republic which China claims as its own territory.
China has been stepping up its threats to use force to against Taiwan by holding military exercises and sending planes close to the island.
During China’s National Day weekend in early October, China dispatched 149 military aircraft southwest of Taiwan in strike group formations, causing Taiwan to scramble aircraft and activate its air defense missile systems.
The report said that reflects Beijing’s effort to degrade Taiwan’s air force through wear and tear and heavy requirements on its personnel. It said the strategy also includes cyberwarfare, propaganda and a campaign to isolate Taiwan internationally to force it to accept China’s terms without engaging in a shooting war.
China and Taiwan separated during a civil war in 1949. While the US cut formal diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979 in order to recognize Beijing, Washington is committed by law to ensure the island can defend itself and to treat all threats toward it as matters of grave concern.
Asked in a recent CNN town hall whether the US would come to Taiwan’s defense if attacked, US President Joe Biden said, “Yes, we have a commitment to do that.” US officials immediately moved to clarify that there had been no change in the US posture toward Taiwan.
While Taiwan relies on the US for much of its military hardware, President Tsai Ing-wen has been pushing for a revitalization of its domestic defense industry, including the production of conventionally powered submarines.
Taiwan: China seeking to degrade country’s military and morale
https://arab.news/6n7wk
Taiwan: China seeking to degrade country’s military and morale
- Beijing is employing ‘gray zone’ tactics to ratchet up pressure on the self-governing island republic
- China has been stepping up its threats to use force to against Taiwan by holding military exercises
France’s Le Pen insists party acted in ‘good faith’ at EU fraud appeal
- Le Pen said on her second day of questioning that even if her party broke the law, it was unintentional
- She also argued that the passage of time made it “extremely difficult” for her to prove her innocence
PARIS: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen told an appeals trial on Wednesday that her party acted in “good faith,” denying an effort to embezzle European Parliament funds as she fights to keep her 2027 presidential bid alive.
A French court last year barred Le Pen, a three-time presidential candidate from the far-right National Rally (RN), from running for office for five years over a fake jobs scam at the European institution.
It found her, along with 24 former European Parliament lawmakers, assistants and accountants as well as the party itself, guilty of operating a “system” from 2004 to 2016 using European Parliament funds to employ party staff in France.
Le Pen — who on Tuesday rejected the idea of an organized scheme — said on her second day of questioning that even if her party broke the law, it was unintentional.
“We were acting in complete good faith,” she said in the dock on Wednesday.
“We can undoubtedly be criticized,” the 57-year-old said, shifting instead the blame to the legislature’s alleged lack of information and oversight.
“The European Parliament’s administration was much more lenient than it is today,” she said.
Le Pen also argued that the passage of time made it “extremely difficult” for her to prove her innocence.
“I don’t know how to prove to you what I can’t prove to you, what I have to prove to you,” she told the court.
Eleven others and the party are also appealing in a trial to last until mid-February, with a decision expected this summer.
- Rules were ‘clear’ -
Le Pen was also handed a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended, and fined 100,000 euros ($116,000) in the initial trial.
She now again risks the maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a one-million-euro ($1.16 million) fine if the appeal fails.
Le Pen is hoping to be acquitted — or at least for a shorter election ban and no time under house arrest.
On Tuesday, Le Pen pushed back against the argument that there was an organized operation to funnel EU funds to the far-right party.
“The term ‘system’ bothers me because it gives the impression of manipulation,” she said.
EU Parliament official Didier Klethi last week said the legislature’s rules were “clear.”
EU lawmakers could employ assistants, who were allowed to engage in political activism, but this was forbidden “during working hours,” he said.
If the court upholds the first ruling, Le Pen will be prevented from running in the 2027 election, widely seen as her best chance to win the country’s top job.
She made it to the second round in the 2017 and 2022 presidential polls, before losing to Emmanuel Macron. But he cannot run this time after two consecutive terms in office.
