June 01-15, 2017

ASEAN

Myanmar

NSCN (K) Leader SS Khaplang No More

SS Khaplang, leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) insurgent group based in Sagaing Division of Myanmar died on 02 June. He was a hardline leader of NSCN (K) whose aim was to establish an independent state carved out of Naga areas both in Myanmar and India. NSCN (K) had signed a cease fire agreement with the Myanmar government in April 2012 even while it was not part of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement signed in October 2015. NSCN-K did not take part in the 21st Century Panglong Conference as SS Khaplang continued to espouse an independent state of Nagaland. Under his leadership many insurgent outfits from India’s North East also found shelter in his camps. In fact, he promoted the establishment of United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia which had a number of NE insurgent groups that included United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur, Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) besides NSCN-K.

Khaplang’s abrogation of the ceasefire in April 2015 had also seen as many as 10 attacks on Indian security forces by the NSCN(K) and its allies – in Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh – killing at least 40 security personnel so far, the latest being on June 6 in which a Major of the Indian Army had lost his life.

After his death, it is likely that the new leadership might think of modifying its hard-lined ideology and possibly join the peace process. Similarly, SS Khaplang’s death might present an opportunity to Myanmar as also Indian government to revise their existing approaches so as to bring the insurgent outfit back into the mainstream. Apparently, he has been succeeded by his deputy Khango Konyak, an Indian Naga unlike Khaplang, who was a Myanmarese. How will SS Khaplang affect outfit’s outreach to both the Governments is yet to be ascertained.

Philippines

Marawi and ISIS: An Update

Marawi, a predominantly Muslim stronghold on the heavily Catholic island of Mindanao in Philippines, has been racked by ISIS-inspired terrorism and violence since May 23. The battle for Marawi began when the Philippine military tried to capture Isnilon Hapilon, the head of Abu Sayyaf Islamist group that pledged loyalty to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The consequent violence traces roots to the Daulah Islamiya Wilayatul Mashriq (DIWM), the umbrella organization of all armed groups in the Philippines that have pledged allegiance to ISIS. Among the notorious armed groups in the DIWM are factions of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) as well as remnants of the Anshar Khalifa Philippines (AKP) and the Khilafa Islamiyah Mindanao (KIM). ASG commander Isnilon Hapilon serves as the overall leader or Amir of DIWM, whose members are called by ISIS as the Soldiers of the Caliphate in East Asia.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s arbitrary deadline of June 12 to defeat ISIS-affiliated fighters quietly passed with victory nowhere in sight, setting off fresh concerns that the emerging Filipino terror group is stronger than advertised. The slow progress against the group comes despite confirmation that the Philippine military is now fighting with technical support from US forces. The Pentagon, which regularly rotates dozens of Special Forces troops through the south of the country for military exercises, said it was providing the Philippines with security assistance and training in intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance. A US P-3 Orion surveillance plane has been spotted over Marawi, and US forces have been photographed flying surveillance drones over the city. Apparently last year, Duterte had rejected a cease-fire offer from the Maute group, which is leading the fight in Marawi.

Singapore

Political Turmoil over Dr Lee Wei Ling’s Statement Denouncing Singapore PM

Siblings of the Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Dr Lee Wei Ling, and Mr Lee Hsien Yang, have issued a public statement on June 14, 2017. In the statement, the siblings have expressed their concern about Singapore’s future and affirmed their no-confidence in Prime Minister Lee. This public broadside against PM Lee has caused a political turmoil in Singapore. In this statement, the siblings of PM publically denounced PM Lee and accused PM Lee of misusing his power and influence over government to drive a personal agenda. The family home which was to be demolished by the will of Lee Kuan Yew was at the center of the allegation. The brother and sisters of Lee alleged that PM Lee and his wife misinterpreted the will of Lee Kuan Yew and deliberately opposed the demolition of the house and preserving the home and gain political capital by preserving it. It is the second time in as many years that the family has feuded publicly. The Lee siblings have also accused Singapore PM Lee of abusing his power in 2016 in the run-up to the first death anniversary of Lee Kuan Yew. Both siblings question whether able leaders with independent political legitimacy will be side-lined to ensure that Hsien Loong’s grip on power remains unchallenged. Lee Hsien Loong has posted a response in relation to the statement earlier published by his two siblings, expressing his disappointment over the choice of publicizing private family matters and denies allegations made by the two against him, especially on the point that he has political ambitions for his son.

Singapore Unveils new ASEAN Defence Initiatives at Shangri- La Dialogue

Ahead of annual chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to be handed over from the Philippines to Singapore, the Defence Minister of Singapore Ng Eng Hen declared series of defence initiatives at the Shangri-La Dialogue 2017 on June 04, 2017. These initiatives would be promoted during the chairmanship of Singapore. In his speech titled ‘Developing a Resilient Regional Security Architecture in a time of Geopolitical Uncertainty’ he proposed some defence initiatives like ASEAN-China Maritime exercises. Second, he announced that Singapore will expand Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) to all Asian Defence Minister’s Meeting (ADMM)-Plus countries which include the ten Southeast Asian states along with the US, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, China, and Russia. This idea was proposed during the Western Pacific Naval Symposium in April 2014 and is practiced by several countries like the US, China, and Japan. Thus, this suggestion is expected to receive support for formalizing a rule-based order. Third, Singapore will guide the regional grouping in establishing a set of guidelines for air encounters between military aircraft for ASEAN, similar to that in the U.S.-China Memorandum of Understanding on the Rules of Behavior for Safety of Air-to-Air Encounters agreed to in September 2015. Apart from these three initiatives, Ng also said that Singapore and Vietnam had proposed that ADMM-Plus be annualized in order to better equip the grouping – the outgrowth of the ADMM which is the region’s premier venue for defense and security issues – to deal with urgent challenges. Ng’s proposal is one that has support not just among some ASEAN members but also among several of the ‘Plus’ members as well. Another, a major highlight of his speech was that, remarkably, there was not a single mention of the phrase the South China Sea. Such indicative inclination of city-state towards China was surprising. It further strongly highlights the uncertainty about the US role in the region.

Asia Pacific Regional Security Assessment 2017

On the backdrop of Shangri-La Dialogue 2017, the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) launched its fourth dossier with tittle ‘Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment 2017’. It focuses on four centrally important groups of regional security themes relevant to the policy-focused discussions that can be expected at the Dialogue in 2017 and beyond, namely: ‘The evolving roles of the United States and China in Asia-Pacific security’; ‘Responses to the US and regional states to regional security tensions, particularly in the South China Sea’; ‘Emerging security questions relating to nuclear weapons, missiles and military cyber capabilities’; and, ‘The prospects for regional security cooperation, including the challenges for the ASEAN-centered architecture’ The Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment 2017 provides detailed, balanced analyses – often from new perspectives – of a wide range of regional security matters that have been on the agenda of recent IISS Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) and Fullerton Forum meetings and are likely to be discussed at the 16th SLD in June 2017.

The Koreas

North Korea: Efforts to Initiate Dialogue

Eccentric NBA player, Dennis Rodman made his fifth visit to North Korea on June 12 in a bid to open doors for dialogue between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Trump; apparently he enjoys a personal equation with both. Though denying any involvement of US authorities in his trip, Rodman responded to the media as saying, "I am pretty sure that he (Trump) is happy with the fact that I am over here trying to accomplish something that we both need." Rodman's trip came just hours after the North decided to release Otto Warmbier, an American university student who had been imprisoned for 15 years with hard labor for trying to steal a propaganda banner. Warmbier, who had been confined for 17 months, had apparently fallen into a coma not long after his confinement began. On June 15, Pyongyang issued a statement saying it decided to let him go for "humanitarian reasons." Officials in both Washington and Pyongyang said Rodman played no role in the release. Behind-the-scenes discussions regarding Warmbier had been underway well before his visit. Warmbier’s release may be a signaling by North Korea of mellowing down to open dialogue.

In a written statement to the House Armed Services Committee on June 12, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that North Korea's advancing missile and nuclear programs were the "most urgent" threat to national security and that its means to deliver them had increased in speed and scope. He also highlighted that the regime's provocative actions had not abated despite United Nations' censure and sanctions. Earlier this month, the UN Security Council expanded targeted sanctions against North Korea after its repeated missile tests, adopting the first such resolution agreed by the US and China since President Trump took office. In a congressional hearing on June 14, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signaled that he would like more help from China in pressing North Korea over issues including its nuclear program. Tillerson said that "(Chinese) cooperation I would say has been notable, but it has been uneven." North Korea is expected to top the agenda at the inaugural session on June 21 of the US-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue, a framework launched by Trump and Xi Jinping during their summit in April.

South Korean Presidential Transition

The Republic of Korea has elected its new President on May 9, 2017, after dramatic impeachment and the five months of electoral process. Political uncertainty paralysed governance during the five-month impeachment interregnum. Other factors exacerbated the problem. Due to a political turmoil, the domestic policy-making in South Korea has been a drift since several years. Thus, South Korean citizens have high expectations from new Moon administration. It is expected that the Moon administration will deal with domestic prominent issues that have been bothering the rapidly aging population of South Korea. Some other issues of concern are tax revenues, pensions, and military recruitments. The corrupt relations between business and the government, rising costs of education and high rate of unemployment, environmental challenges are some of the key domestic challenges. Some of the analysts suggest that a credible resolution of the above-mentioned problems would require new legislation. However, Moon’s Democratic Party has secured 120 seats in the 300 member National Assembly of South Korea. The next elections for the legislature are scheduled for April 2020. Thus, in such alarming situation, the Moon administration will have to seek a compromise in the form of a party-merger and realignment

South Korea to Review its decision about THAAD batteries

The new Moon administration of South Korea on June 07, 2017 moved to suspend the deployment Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) batteries in South Korea. The statement issued from the President’s office of South Korea confirmed that the decision to deploy THAAD batteries would be frozen until an environmental impact assessment is completed. This, the decision has put South Korea on a potential collision course with Washington’s regional defence strategy. It is alleged in the domestic political spectrum of South Korea that, Moon Jae-in was kept in dark by the defence officials about the actual size of the defence hardware that had already been allowed in the country. However, the US considers the deployment of THAAD as vital to protect East Asia and the American troops stationed in the region from the missile threat of North Korea. This move by Moon administration is not surprising because Moon has frequently voiced his reservation about the deployment of THAAD and urged the US to respect the will of the South Korean citizens. Moon is also inclined towards having a greater engagement with North Korea.

South Korea to move away from Nuclear and Coal fired Energy Resources

In line with conventional left leaning ideology the newly elected Moon administration put environment at the center of its energy policy and decided to shift to renewables. This shift of one of the world’s staunchest supporter of coal and nuclear power towards renewables will have major impact on producers. It is warned by various energy experts that shying away from coal and nuclear plants could lead South Korea to big energy crisis and may lead to claims for massive compensation and push up electricity prices. However, the government of President Moon Jae-in has vowed to move towards green energy, responding to public concerns over air pollution and nuclear safety. South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, gets 70 per cent of its electricity from thermal coal and nuclear reactors and offers tax benefits to both sectors to ensure abundant electricity at affordable prices. Long-term energy economics favor policy change, with renewable costs falling sharply due to improved technology and LNG prices; sliding over 70 per cent from their 2014 peak on a huge supply increase, especially from Australia and the United States.

Japan
Emperor’s Abdication Bill: Beginning of New Era

On June 9, an one-off legislation to specifically allow Emperor Akihito (83 years) to retire and hand over the throne to his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito was passed into law at a plenary session of the Upper House. The bill had cleared the Lower House on June 2. Although the legislation does not specify the day of Emperor Akihito's abdication, it is widely believed that he will step down at the end of 2018, and that Crown Prince Naruhito will then accede to the Imperial Throne. The era name will also be changed from the current Heisei on January 1, 2019. Emperor Akihito will be the first emperor to abdicate since Emperor Kokaku retired in 1817, during the Edo period about 200 years ago. Post World War II, discussion on the prospect of Emperor Hirohito abdicating to take responsibility for the war had arisen. However, such talk was passed over, and a system of lifetime reigns was maintained to prevent arbitrary and involuntary abdication.

The issue of abdication is also inseparable from that of stable succession of the imperial throne. Princess Mako’s impending wedding and consequent exit will leave the Japanese imperial family with just 18 members – 13 of whom are women – and only four heirs to the throne: 57-year-old Naruhito, his younger brother Akishino and his son, 10-year-old prince Hisahito, and the emperor’s 81-year-old brother, prince Masahito. The Diet passed a resolution requesting that the government consider the issue of stable imperial succession and measures to counter the declining size of the Imperial Family.

MAST 2017 Tokyo: Japan seeks to expand Arms Deals with Southeast Asia

Maritime/Air Systems &Technologies (MAST) Asia 2017 is Japan’s only international defense trade-show (and conference). It is attended by hundreds of defense officials and industry leaders from around the world. On June 15, Hideaki Watanabe, head of the Defense Ministry's Acquisition Technology and Logistics Agency, hosted a meeting with defense officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to discuss the sharing of equipment and technology. In his June 12 statement to media, he mentioned that there have been aggressive attempts by nations in recent years to change the status quo, in an apparent reference to China's building of artificial islands in disputed areas of the South China Sea. He further reiterated that ensuring safety of navigation and flight contributes to the peace and prosperity of Japan and international society. And that Japan's research and development of high-quality defense equipment contributes to the “defense of Japan and elsewhere”.

Japan's defense industry at home is worth about 1.8 trillion yen ($16 billion) annually, a fraction of the country's 52 trillion yen ($470 billion) auto industry. Japan had restricted arms exports under its post-World War II peace constitution, limiting joint research and development to the US under a bilateral security pact. Since an easing of the rules in 2014, Japan now has joint research deals with Britain, Australia and France. In order to scale up the defense industry, Japan's government has also bolstered research funding to more than 10 billion yen ($90 million). Japan has been promoting the transfer of defense equipment to Southeast Asian countries to help their maritime security capabilities amid China's growing presence in the South China Sea, but deals have been limited to the sale of TC-90 surveillance aircraft to the Philippines.

Tokyo Governor to become Head of Political Group

Tokyo’s Governor, Yuriko Koike, officially offered her resignation to the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on June 1 to take the helm of her fledgling party, Tomin First no Kai (literal translation: Tokyoites first group), a regional political party. She will take over the leadership ahead of the upcoming Tokyo assembly election on July 2. The move is likely an attempt to boost the popularity of the group in the run-up to the vote. A former defense minister and environment minister, Koike became the first female Tokyo governor in August last year. Tomin First was formed the following month by Tokyo assembly members supporting Koike and is currently headed by Kazusa Noda, a special secretary to the governor. Koike has a 69 percent approval rating, and 53 percent of respondents said they “had expectations” for Tomin First, compared to 36 percent who did not. Japanese newspaper, Yomiuri’s survey found that 25 percent of respondents planned to vote for LDP candidates, with Tomin First only three points down at 22 percent. Tomin First will be the wild card in this election, as not only do 22 percent of respondents with no particular party affiliation support it, but 23 percent of LDP supporters and more than 20 percent of Democratic Party (DP, the main opposition party in Japan) supporters back the new party as well.

The main challenge for whichever party wins a majority of seats in the assembly will be the issue of relocating the Tsukji wholesale market and preparations for the 2020 Olympics. Soon after her election, Koike postponed Tsukiji’s relocation from its 80-year-old location along Tokyo Bay to the manmade Toyosu Island, due to concerns about soil contamination. Koike has denied being interested in the premiership, but speculation is increasing that she will seek national leadership. She has held high-level government positions in the past, including a stint as environment minister (2003-06) under former Prime Minsiter Koizumi Junichiro, and as defense minister (2007) during Shinzo Abe’s first stint as prime minister.

China & Taiwan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Meeting with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. This was the first meeting between the two leaders after the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation which India had boycotted. This year India along with Pakistan became a full member of SCO.

During the PM Narendra Modi thanked President Xi Jinping for China’s support for the India’s accession to the SCO. Indian Foreign Secretary, Dr S Jaishankar briefed Indian side on the meeting between the two leaders. He said, the meeting with China “was a very cordial and positive …. A number of specific areas came up for discussion which included economic cooperation broadly, specifically trade issues, investment issues, some connectivity issues, the establishment of industrial parks, cooperation in railways. There were also a number of security and defence issues including counter-terrorism cooperation, security cooperation, defence exchanges.” He further said, “There was a very positive signaling on the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, some talk of parliamentary exchanges, youth exchanges and there was a fairly detailed discussion on cultural cooperation. President Xi, in fact, spoke very highly of Indian films. He said that the film Dangal was doing particularly well and that he himself has actually seen it.” Reportedly, Xi Jinping praised the acting in the film.

According to Xinhua, President Xi Jinping said, “China attaches great importance to its ties with India and stands ready to work with the Indian side to enhance political mutual trust, link their development strategies, deepen practical cooperation and maintain coordination and collaboration in international and regional affairs, so as to advance their strategic cooperative partnership in a sustained, healthy and stable way.” Additionally, he said, “Faced with profound and complex changes of the international situation, China and India, as the world's two largest developing countries, should pay more attention to cooperation and go ahead with each other as partners, so as to instill more momentum into each other's development and contribute to world peace, stability and common development”.

The “entire spectrum of bilateral cooperation” was discussed during the meeting. The meeting ended with an invitation from President Xi to PM Modi for attending the BRIC (September 2017) Summit in Xiamen, China.

China and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit 2017

On 8-9 June 2017, President Xi Jinping attended the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana, Kazakhstan. In his speech, he called for upholding the “Shanghai Spirit” and gave a proposal for the SCO to draw a 5-year outline for implementation of the “Treaty on Long Term Good Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation”. He expressed his support to fight the extremist and showed the willingness to host the SCO joint counter-terrorism cyber exercise once again. He used the opportunity, to talk about the synergy between Belt and Road Initiative and with regional cooperation initiatives. He also talked about broadening the deepening China’s cooperation with the SCO members in human resource development by bringing closer people to people ties. He also promised an additional contribution of RMB10 million to the Secretariat for it to improve working conditions and undertake more activities. After this summit, China will take over the rotating presidency of the SCO and host the next summit in June 2018.

Shangri –La Dialogue and China

The Shangri La Dialogue was held from 2-4 June 2017 in Singapore. It was attended by 22 ministerial level delegates and 12 chiefs of defence department as well as senior military officials and academics from 39 countries and regions. This year’s dialogue was also called the 16th Asia Security Summit.

Lieutenant General He Lei, vice-president of the PLA Academy of Military Science was heading the delegation from China. Seemingly, this year China did not send a very high-level delegation. In his speech, Lt Gen He Lei touch upon the developments of the South China Sea, the Korean peninsula and overall international and regional rules. On the issue of the South China Sea, He said, "I think freedom of navigation can't equate to close-in surveillance," highlighting that freedom of navigation has never been a problem in the South China Sea. On the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, He Lei said that the main reason of the issue is the mutual strategic suspicion between Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States. With reference to China’s role on the issue, he reiterated that China will continue to follow its three principles on the issue, namely sticking to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, sticking to peace and stability on the peninsula and sticking to peacefully resolving the issue. On international and regional rules, he said China is both the defender and observer of these rules. While illustrating China’s support to international and regional rules he said, until now China has signed more than 23,000 bilateral agreements and more than 400 multilateral agreements with related parties in the world.

During the summit, the Defence Minister of the US and Japan accused China of disregarding “rule-based order” and creating tension. China strongly opposed these remarks. The China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Hua Chunying in response to these remarks said, “Certain countries outside the region, driven by ulterior motives, insist on making erroneous remarks and calling white black. The Chinese side is firmly opposed to that and urges relevant parties to stop their irresponsible remarks, fully respect regional countries' efforts to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea and play a constructive role to that end.” On the remarks from Japanese Defence Minister Chinese Spokesperson said, “Remarks made by the Japanese side, which confuse right and wrong, are not worth refuting. The Chinese side urges the Japanese side to work more constructively for the improvement of the bilateral relations and regional peace and stability.”

United States Defense Secretary Mentions Taiwan at the Shangri -La Dialogue

In his speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD), United States Defence Secretary James Mattis said, “the Department of Defence remains steadfastly committed to working with Taiwan and with its democratic government to provide it the defence articles necessary, consistent with the obligations set out in the Taiwan Relations Act, because we stand for the peaceful resolution of any issues in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.” Additionally, he said that the US was committed to the ‘one-China’ policy. It was the first time Taiwan was mentioned by the US during the SLD.

On the sidelines of the forum, Lieutenant General He Lei, vice president of the PLA Academy of Military Science said the US should not play up the Taiwan Relations Act. He said, “Mattis should not only mention the Taiwan Relations Act but should also touch on the Three Joint Communiqués with Beijing.” (The three joint communiqués are the Shanghai Communiqué, the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and the August 17 Communiqué). He also highlighted China’s opposition to US arms sales to Taiwan and official contact with Taipei.
Taiwanese delegate and former Defence Minister Andrew Yang Nien-Dzu said Mattis remarks have sent a strong message to both Beijing and Taipei. He further said, “Washington wants to make clear that its commitment to maintain the stability of the Asia-Pacific region by strengthening alliance partnerships shouldn’t exclude Taiwan.”

Tsai Ing-wen Urges China to Learn Democracy from Taiwan

On 4 June 2017, Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen urged Beijing to face the Tiananmen Square Incident with an open mind and said Taiwan is willing to share its experience of transforming into a democracy with China. She wrote on Facebook, “Today, many people in many places are asking for democracy by commemorating the Tiananmen Square protest, particularly Hong Kongers.” Over the past few years, there have been more and more Hong Kongers visiting Taiwan to “see democracy and freedom.” She further said that Taiwan is willing to share its experience of transitioning to democracy so that pain in China can be kept to a minimum.

China reacted sharply to this offer and the China's Taiwan Affairs Office said only mainland Chinese had the right to speak on mainland affairs while suggesting Tsai could better spend her time reflecting on "the widespread discontent" in Taiwan and the "reasons behind why cross-strait relations had reached an impasse".

Panama Severs Diplomatic Relations with Taiwan

On 13 June 2017, Panama established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and decided to sever its ties with Taiwan. Earlier, in 2009, the then-president Ricardo Martinelli had announced his intention to establish diplomatic relations with the PRC but was turned down by Beijing amid the “diplomatic truce” with the then President Ma Ying-jeou.

Panama is the second country after Sao Tome and Principe (Western African country) to break ties with Taiwan since the DPP government took over. Now Taiwan has diplomatic relations with only 20 countries. There are talks that Vatican might be the next country in the line to sever its ties with Taiwan. According to South China Morning Post, working groups are ‘slowly’ discussing relations which were severed with the PRC.
Seemingly, this is China’s larger strategy of isolating Taiwan and indirect pressure to accept ‘one China’ policy. President Tsai Ing-wen condemned China for being behind Panama’s decision. She said, “We are a sovereign country. This sovereignty cannot be challenged nor traded. China has continued to manipulate the ‘one China’ principle and pressure Taiwan’s international space, threatening the rights of the Taiwanese people. But it remains undeniable that the Republic of China is a sovereign country. This is a fact China will never be able to deny”.