New President Lai a Welcome Figure for Democracy in Asia
In this special edition of "Zoom In Zoom Out," Washington-based Wenchi Yu brings us dispatches from global leaders and their takes on Taiwan. The news this week: welcoming Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te.
To understand how other Asian countries view Taiwan’s change in leadership, Wenchi speaks to Tsuneo “Nabe” Watanabe, a senior fellow of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, as well as Mu Sochua, president of the newly launched Khmer Movement for Democracy.
To understand how other Asian countries view Taiwan’s change in leadership, Wenchi speaks to Tsuneo “Nabe” Watanabe, a senior fellow of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, as well as Mu Sochua, president of the newly launched Khmer Movement for Democracy.
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00:00Taiwan's new president, Lai Ching-de, has been officially inaugurated on May 20th.
00:17He's going to lead Taiwan for at least the next four years.
00:20At this critical juncture of intensifying U.S.-China tensions, how will Lai lead Taiwan
00:26in both domestic and foreign affairs remains a question to many who deem Lai a less-known
00:31figure on the global stage.
00:34Unlike former President Tsai Ing-wen, who won the trust of the Western world for her
00:38calm leadership style, Lai has been portrayed as someone with a more radical agenda in mind,
00:44that is, Taiwan independence.
00:46To reassure the international community, Lai's national security team is largely the same
00:52as his predecessors.
00:54In his inaugural speech, even though Lai did not deviate from Tsai's approach to Taiwan's
00:59status, he emphasized that the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China are
01:05not subordinate to each other.
01:08China responded by accusing Lai of sending a dangerous signal and by stubbornly seeking
01:14the island's independence and making provocations that could undermine cross-strait peace and
01:19stability.
01:21China's military also launched air and sea drills following the inauguration as punishment
01:27for separatist acts.
01:29We spoke to Nabe Watanabe from Japan and Mu Suk-hwa from Cambodia to hear how they think
01:36about Taiwan's new president, Lai Ching-de, and what Taiwan's new government means to
01:40them from military, regional security, economic and trade, tourism, to democracy and human
01:47rights.
01:51Nabe Watanabe is an adjunct fellow of CSIS, a DC-based think tank, and a senior fellow
01:58with Sasakawa Peace Foundation, a Tokyo-based think tank.
02:02Nabe, how does the Japanese government view Taiwan's Lai Ching-de and the new government?
02:07And what do you think of Lai Ching-de's inaugural speech?
02:11The Japanese are basically very welcome President Lai because he's known to many Japanese,
02:22especially Japanese Diet members and leaders.
02:25In Japan, he's regarded as a Japan hand.
02:28And what do you think of his speech?
02:31President Lai stressing how important democracy and value, and also prosperity and peace in
02:41the region.
02:42That's clearly overlapping with Mr. Kishida's address.
02:45So I was impressed.
02:46And I'm sure that is a good message to the American and the European who love democracy
02:52too.
02:53Since you mentioned Prime Minister Kishida, well, he has upgraded Japan's security alliance
02:59with the U.S., and what is the significance of that?
03:04And is Taiwan part of that consideration?
03:08Japan is a part of the region we call the Indo-Pacific and also East Asia.
03:15And of course, Taiwan is a neighbor.
03:17The former Prime Minister Abe's, the Taiwan contingency, the Japan's contingency.
03:23And of course, Taiwan is not only, we are also considering Korean Peninsula contingency.
03:30And theoretically, these could happen together.
03:34And Japan actually used to be a semiconductor leader in the 80s.
03:40It seems like Japan is trying to revive its manufacturing power again.
03:45How do we think about the relationship between Taiwan and Japan?
03:50Is it competition or is it complementary?
03:54How do we think about it?
03:56Japan's current position is a very complementary role to Taiwan's semiconductor.
04:02And of course, Japan welcomed the TSMC, the factory in Kumamoto.
04:07Is Japan following the U.S. in terms of how it views China when it comes to technology
04:14competition and concern when it comes to global supply chains?
04:20Japan continues to cooperate with the United States as for the export control on the critical
04:26technology.
04:28At the same time, China is now improving their own capability to produce high-spec one.
04:36And the current situation clearly showing a limitation of even the joint export control regime.
04:44So I think we mean that Japan and the U.S. and other U.S. allied nations really need
04:50to consider what is the best way.
04:52Because, you know, just export control is not so effective.
04:58Japan is also the largest tourist destination for Taiwanese and vice versa.
05:05And Taiwanese and Japanese enjoy a very special friendship because of its past history.
05:11So how is Taiwan versus China viewed by the Japanese society right now?
05:18The basic view is Japan really have a sympathy with Taiwanese people because Taiwanese society
05:30is very democratic.
05:31And somehow we are witnessing the fate of democracy in Hong Kong.
05:39Japanese people actually supported the democratization movement in Hong Kong, but we are worried
05:47about a potential military clash.
05:49So even not military, but some hybrid type Chinese attempt to control Taiwan.
05:56So at the same time, you know, Japan is also, I think, a very difficult relation with China.
06:06So I think one clear thing, Japan, U.S., Taiwanese, I'm sure they don't want to fight a war against
06:17China. But at the same time, we'd like to be free from China's pressure or coercion to our society.
06:26What if there is some kind of conflict across the Taiwan Strait?
06:32Will Japan be involved?
06:34No, one clear thing is that Japan has a very strong security tie with the United States.
06:41But if the U.S. decides to engage in, Japan has a strong obligation to cope with the United States.
06:50That's one thing. And the other thing is because of geographic closeness, military common sense
06:58may say military situation in Taiwan is very likely to affect Japan's military case.
07:10I think that's one of the reasons former Prime Minister Abe said the Taiwan contingency is Japan's contingency.
07:23Defense and economic interests share values and history help forge a special bond between Japan
07:29and Taiwan. As for another Asian country, Cambodia, Taiwan's democracy has been an
07:34inspiration to its opposition and diaspora democratic movement. Let's hear from Mu Sukua.
07:41Mu Sukua is president of the Khmer Movement for Democracy, a newly established organization
07:47promoting democracy and the rule of law in Cambodia. She's a former member of parliament,
07:52former minister of women's affairs and an opposition leader of the banned
07:57Cambodian National Rescue Party. She began living in exile in 2017. Welcome, Sukua.
08:05Thank you very much for having me.
08:08Sukua, as an opposition leader from Cambodia, what does Taiwan's democracy mean to you
08:15and to those who are fighting for democracy and human rights in Cambodia,
08:19and especially to the diaspora community?
08:22I lead the Khmer Movement for Democracy, which is a much bigger
08:29engagement with civil society, with the three million Cambodians who live outside of Cambodia.
08:38It has always been an inspiration for us to look up at our friends in Taiwan. And to us,
08:44democracy that Taiwan represents is the freedom, the freedom of the people to be informed.
08:53When you look at Taiwan having to deal with China, the whole world, and defending Taiwan
09:03as a nation, as a woman leader at the top, and saying that at the end of the day, women can do
09:11and it should not make any difference, but women have to go beyond just,
09:16we are just fighting for women's rights.
09:19And so what is China's influence in Cambodia like, especially with the regime's leadership?
09:28My great-grandparents came from China during, I guess, during the famine. So what you see,
09:37my name is Hua, right? So it's half Cambodian, half Chinese. And so that part of the Chinese
09:44culture, the values, the core values of education, the ties to the family, the community, especially
09:51the family, you know, you always have to excel. That part is still with me that I think is my
09:59strength. However, I cannot, like Cambodians all in Cambodia or outside Cambodia cannot,
10:08will never forget, is the role of China in the genocide years in Cambodia from 75 to 79.
10:18The Khmer Rouge.
10:19The Khmer Rouge. And then today, Cambodia is not just an autocracy, now it's a dynasty. Hun Sen
10:27is president of the Senate, and then in the cabinet, it's all about the sons of the former
10:33ministers. And then with the strategy for the vision of Xi Jinping, it's got these three
10:42pillars. The first one is the Belt and Road Initiative, infrastructure, infrastructure,
10:49but it's actually connectivity for China. The second is what we really worry about is
10:56the Global Development Initiative of Xi Jinping, which is that, never mind human rights, you got
11:03rice in your stomach, that's good enough. You got development, that's good enough.
11:07That's exactly what Hun Sen is saying to our people. You have peace. What you have,
11:14why aren't you just saying to the people, right? Aren't you happy with what you have already?
11:19What else do you want more? And the third pillar is the Global Security Initiative,
11:26which is now the presence of the military, the naval military presence of China in our ports.
11:35The coastline of Cambodia is now used as the naval base for China. And on top of that,
11:45there's another new project by China, which is the construction of a canal.
11:51Despite Cambodian leaders' denial, China has funded the expansion of Cambodia's Ream Naval
11:57Base, and two Chinese warships have docked at the base. What do you think the military base
12:02is going to be used for? These two warships have been stationed in this port of Cambodia,
12:11since early December. And just recently, there was this big military exercise with the presence
12:18of China in Cambodia, cybercrime. In the compound of these big casinos that are owned by Chinese
12:27companies, by the Chinese mafia, by the Cambodian tycoons, who are backed by the Chinese mafia,
12:34you have detention centers for the victims of cybercrimes. In Cambodia alone, we're talking
12:45about human trafficking. We're talking about scamming through the internet. I want to make
12:53clear that we are not against China. That's not the point. The point is, we need to defend our
12:59land. Our farmers are losing their land, because hundreds and thousands of hectares of land,
13:07or sea, or lake, are all now in the possession of these big tycoons and big companies that may
13:13lead the Chinese. It's about freedom. It's about liberty. We admire Taiwan for defending
13:21the people of Taiwan, for defending your own land. The leadership of China has to
13:27understand, they may own Hun Sen and his family, but they cannot own the people of Cambodia.
13:37That was Nabe Watanabe and Mu Tsukua in conversation with Taiwan Plus News.
13:42You can find more stories from Taiwan and around the world on the Taiwan Plus website.
13:47Thanks for watching and see you next time.
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