The new Taiwanese government has been in office for less than a week and is already faced with several massive challenges: On Thursday, China announced a two-day military exercise around Taiwan’s main island and smaller offshore islands in what is seen as a reaction to new President Lai Ching-te’s inauguration speech. Lai’s inauguration was also overshadowed by conflicts in the opposition-controlled parliament. Further protests are planned there for Friday. David Demes summarizes the events.
Meanwhile, Berlin continues to struggle with Huawei. Chancellor Olaf Scholz could have put his foot down a long time ago – but the meeting on Thursday that discussed the Chinese telecommunications supplier at the Chancellery failed to produce any results. Scholz is clearly in no hurry to enter into a trade conflict with China. Now he could create clarity before the parliamentary summer recess. How? With a compromise. The Huawei components already installed in the access network will stay in – until they are replaced anyway at the end of the decade with the switch to 6G. With European products from Ericsson and Nokia.
The new Taiwanese government has not even been in office for a week and is already facing a range of massive challenges. On Thursday, China announced a two-day military exercise around the main island of Taiwan and smaller offshore islands in what is believed to be a reaction to the inauguration speech by the new president, Lai Ching-te. According to the official announcement, the so-called “Joint Sword 2024A” maneuver is aimed at punishing “separatist efforts” by Taiwanese independence forces and warning foreign countries against interfering in the Taiwan question.
“Taiwan ‘independence’ is doomed to failure,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin at a daily press conference. “Anyone seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ will find themselves crushed by the historic trend of China’s complete reunification.”
The AFP news agency quoted Wang Wenbin differently in a report on Thursday morning. In it, Wang said that “Taiwan independence forces will be left with their heads broken and blood flowing” for attempting to fight China’s undertaking of “achieving complete unification.” The foreign ministry’s website was last updated this afternoon.
China announced the exercises at 7:45 on Thursday morning and dispatched several warships and fighter jets to the waters and airspace around Taiwan throughout the day. According to state television CCTV, several dozen fighter aircraft armed with live ammunition circled Taiwan. “Under the support and cover of the Army and the Rocket Force, multiple types of aircraft […] coordinated with destroyers, frigates, and missile speedboats to simulate attacking the ‘enemy’s’ high-value military targets and reconnaissance and patrol aircraft,” the report said.
Taiwan’s military responded to the announcements from Beijing with routine composure. Its Army, Air Force and Navy were monitoring the situation closely and were ready to react quickly to any sudden changes in the situation. “We seek no conflicts, but we will not shy away from one,” is the official line.
In the afternoon, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense and the Coast Guard released several videos showing Taiwanese units monitoring Chinese combat vessels and keeping them at a distance. The Ministry of Defense reported that no ships or aircraft had entered the so-called contiguous zone of the main island (24 nautical miles off the coast) by the evening. However, Chinese coastguard vessels were reported to have entered restricted waters up to 2.8 and 3.1 nautical miles off the islands of Wuqiu and Dongyin, which are closer to the Chinese mainland than to Taiwan.
The main difference between the last “Joint Sword” maneuver in 2023 and the large-scale exercises after Nancy Pelosi’s visit in August last year appears to be the proximity of the declared exercise zones to the eastern Taiwanese coastal city of Hualien. It is not only home to an important port, but also the Chiashan Air Force Base, which plays an important role in the event of war.
According to Zhang Chi, a lecturer at the National Defence University of the People’s Liberation Army, the exercises in the eastern part of Taiwan are aimed at practicing the breaching of the “three lines”: the “lifeline of energy imports,” the “escape route of Taiwanese independence forces” that might try to flee across the sea, and the “supply line of the United States and its allies providing aid to Taiwanese independence forces,” political scientist Zhang told CCTV.
The spokesperson for the Taiwanese presidential office, Kuo Ya-hui, called the Chinese exercises “regrettable.” China was “using unilateral military provocations to threaten Taiwan’s democracy and freedom,” Kuo said in a video statement. She stressed that maintaining peace and stability in the region should be the shared responsibility and common goal of both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Military analyst Ben Lewis noted on Twitter/X that the designation “Joint Sword 2024A” could indicate the start of a series of exercises (B, C, D, etc.). However, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense did not want to confirm this assumption in the evening.
However, Beijing’s threats are not the only headache for Taiwan’s new government. It also faces considerable challenges from the domestic opposition. On May 17, violent disputes broke out in parliament when the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), which controls the legislature with the support of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), wanted to push through a bill to expand the power of parliament and restrict that of the executive.
DPP deputies, who have been in the minority since the January elections, tried to prevent the vote by occupying the lectern. In the ensuing scuffle, four DPP MPs and one KMT MP sustained injuries so severe that they required medical assistance. The images of the fighting in parliament and the dramatic fall of an MP caused a nationwide uproar, with several hundred protesters quickly gathering in front of parliament on the same evening.
The so-called “parliamentary reform” aims to grant the legislature more investigative rights, which are currently mainly the responsibility of the justice system and the control yuan, which is unique in Taiwan’s political system. In addition, the plan is to oblige the president to regularly answer questions in parliament. Another point of contention is the planned punishment for “contempt of parliament.” For example, a minister asking a question in return when questioned by MPs could already be interpreted as contempt. When German broadcaster Deutsche Welle asked about the definition of such a question on Thursday, KMT MP Wu Tsung-hsien replied that this would be clarified once the law had been passed. The concern is that journalists and companies could also be forced to disclose secrets.
Civil society organizations and the DPP particularly criticize the speed and lack of transparency with which bills are rushed through parliament. They say there is not enough opportunity for MPs to read and debate the bills. The Taiwan Bar Association stated that the legislature’s failure to debate properly “not only undermines Taiwan’s democratic foundations, but also violates the fundamental principles of democratic constitutionalism and representative democracy.”
When the vote on the bills continued on Tuesday, one day after Lai took office, tens of thousands gathered outside parliament to express their anger at the opposition’s plans. “It’s not democracy without debate” and “I disrespect parliament” were just two of the protest slogans that could be heard repeatedly. However, KMT chairman Eric Chu warned the DPP against risking a “civil war” with their strategy. The vote will continue this Friday. Further protests have been announced.
The German government appears to be heading towards a decision on how to deal with Huawei components in German networks. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Transport and Network Minister Volker Wissing and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser discussed the next steps at the Chancellery on Thursday. Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock were also present.
According to reports, Scholz and his ministers are now seeking a quick decision after the government and the public have been discussing the use of Chinese technology in critical networks for years, always using the same arguments. A decision could be made before the parliamentary summer recess, which starts at the beginning of July.
Faeser already decided in September to ban Huawei and ZTE from Germany’s networks. The three mobile network providers Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica have been instructed to remove critical Chinese components from their core networks by the end of 2025. The plan is to free the access network in Germany’s biggest cities, especially Berlin, from Chinese components by 2026.
But this is another point of contention between the German government parties. While Faeser would have preferred to have every component with the red logo removed, Wissing urged prudence. As minister, he is responsible for network quality. And that would suffer without using high-quality, low-cost Chinese technology. In December, there were already calls for the German Chancellor, who ultimately has the authority to issue directives, to intervene.
A series of papers from the Ministry of the Interior have already outlined the key points of the Huawei phase-out. The aim is to remove Huawei from all parts of the network by 2029.
In practice, this means that already installed components can stay connected, but with the transition to 6G by the end of the decade, German operators will do without Huawei and place their orders with Nokia and Ericsson in the EU. With the change in the technical generation, the use of Chinese parts will come to an end.
The advantage of this solution is that it would not require the exclusion of Huawei. The Chinese ambassador Wu Ken had already threatened in 2019: “If Germany were to take a decision that leads to Huawei’s exclusion from the German market, you could expect consequences.” In other words, the handling of Huawei falls within the context of global trade conflicts.
The considerations are based on a distinction between the core network and the access network:
Germany’s telecommunications providers have already largely removed Huawei components from the core network. Telekom now hopes to be able to keep the Huawei equipment in the access network. “The question is: Is an antenna a critical element, yes or no? We can argue that it is not considered a critical element under German law,” said Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hoettges last year, according to German broadcaster ZDF. That was the end of the matter for him.
Even after years of discussion, Huawei’s market share in the wireless network is higher in the German capital than in Beijing. This is according to calculations by the British management consultancy Strand Consult. In China, the private company Huawei shares the market with the state-owned company ZTE and international providers. In Germany, Huawei’s share is around 60 percent.
Immediately removing all existing Huawei parts, as various parties have called for, would be very expensive, slow down the networks and delay their expansion. Such costly interventions in the economy can only be justified by high risks.
There is often vague mention of “Chinese influence” on German networks. Security experts warn of three scenarios in particular. As a supplier of components, Huawei has the following capabilities (in decreasing likelihood):
What is considered unlikely:
All fears are founded on the scenario of deteriorating relations with China, culminating in a conflict, in which China would react hostile. Even if the risks remain vague, there is still a general unease about buying technology for modern networks from a rival power given this possibility.
The 5G network and its successors are not just used to transmit websites, WhatsApp messages, video game data, or videos. In the age of the Internet of Things, they will become more like the air we breathe. Autonomous cars exchange information about the traffic situation in milliseconds, doctors read data in pacemakers and insulin pumps in real time, and factories use 5G to coordinate robots.
Anyone who hands over the development of this nervous system of modern technology generally makes themselves vulnerable. This concerns not just random electronics, but critical infrastructure such as electricity, water or airports.
This is why there is also a strong industrial policy case for abandoning Huawei. Europe must have the ability to lay and update these networks itself. Contracting Nokia from Finland and Ericsson from Sweden will help boost domestic providers and keep them up to date.
China is doing the same. Suppliers such as Siemens once helped China develop its first wireless networks. However, China deemed it unacceptable to be dependent on foreign countries for such important technology and supported ZTE and Huawei in their growth – including with subsidies. Experts believe that the Chinese state has considerable influence over both companies.
Meanwhile, the German mobile network operator 1&1 is taking a different approach. Together with a Japanese partner, it relies on Open RAN, a manufacturer-independent standard considered more transparent.
The 77th Cannes Film Festival comes to an end on Saturday. One conclusion can already be drawn: After pandemic-related breaks and accusations of censorship, Chinese film is back. Veteran star director Jia Zhangke (left) presented his romantic drama “Caught by the Tides,” which captures the changes in China over the past 25 years. Peter Chan’s “She’s Got No Name” tells the story of a murder case in 1940s Shanghai. The leading role is played by Zhang Ziyi. Other films from China and Hong Kong included Lou Yes’ “An Unfinished Film,” Soi Cheang’s “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” and Guan Hu’s “Black Dog.” The French-Chinese documentary “Kangxi and Louis XIV,” which deals with parallels between the two unequal rulers, was also screened on the fringes of the festival.
The new Taiwanese government has been in office for less than a week and is already faced with several massive challenges: On Thursday, China announced a two-day military exercise around Taiwan’s main island and smaller offshore islands in what is seen as a reaction to new President Lai Ching-te’s inauguration speech. Lai’s inauguration was also overshadowed by conflicts in the opposition-controlled parliament. Further protests are planned there for Friday. David Demes summarizes the events.
Meanwhile, Berlin continues to struggle with Huawei. Chancellor Olaf Scholz could have put his foot down a long time ago – but the meeting on Thursday that discussed the Chinese telecommunications supplier at the Chancellery failed to produce any results. Scholz is clearly in no hurry to enter into a trade conflict with China. Now he could create clarity before the parliamentary summer recess. How? With a compromise. The Huawei components already installed in the access network will stay in – until they are replaced anyway at the end of the decade with the switch to 6G. With European products from Ericsson and Nokia.
The new Taiwanese government has not even been in office for a week and is already facing a range of massive challenges. On Thursday, China announced a two-day military exercise around the main island of Taiwan and smaller offshore islands in what is believed to be a reaction to the inauguration speech by the new president, Lai Ching-te. According to the official announcement, the so-called “Joint Sword 2024A” maneuver is aimed at punishing “separatist efforts” by Taiwanese independence forces and warning foreign countries against interfering in the Taiwan question.
“Taiwan ‘independence’ is doomed to failure,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin at a daily press conference. “Anyone seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ will find themselves crushed by the historic trend of China’s complete reunification.”
The AFP news agency quoted Wang Wenbin differently in a report on Thursday morning. In it, Wang said that “Taiwan independence forces will be left with their heads broken and blood flowing” for attempting to fight China’s undertaking of “achieving complete unification.” The foreign ministry’s website was last updated this afternoon.
China announced the exercises at 7:45 on Thursday morning and dispatched several warships and fighter jets to the waters and airspace around Taiwan throughout the day. According to state television CCTV, several dozen fighter aircraft armed with live ammunition circled Taiwan. “Under the support and cover of the Army and the Rocket Force, multiple types of aircraft […] coordinated with destroyers, frigates, and missile speedboats to simulate attacking the ‘enemy’s’ high-value military targets and reconnaissance and patrol aircraft,” the report said.
Taiwan’s military responded to the announcements from Beijing with routine composure. Its Army, Air Force and Navy were monitoring the situation closely and were ready to react quickly to any sudden changes in the situation. “We seek no conflicts, but we will not shy away from one,” is the official line.
In the afternoon, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense and the Coast Guard released several videos showing Taiwanese units monitoring Chinese combat vessels and keeping them at a distance. The Ministry of Defense reported that no ships or aircraft had entered the so-called contiguous zone of the main island (24 nautical miles off the coast) by the evening. However, Chinese coastguard vessels were reported to have entered restricted waters up to 2.8 and 3.1 nautical miles off the islands of Wuqiu and Dongyin, which are closer to the Chinese mainland than to Taiwan.
The main difference between the last “Joint Sword” maneuver in 2023 and the large-scale exercises after Nancy Pelosi’s visit in August last year appears to be the proximity of the declared exercise zones to the eastern Taiwanese coastal city of Hualien. It is not only home to an important port, but also the Chiashan Air Force Base, which plays an important role in the event of war.
According to Zhang Chi, a lecturer at the National Defence University of the People’s Liberation Army, the exercises in the eastern part of Taiwan are aimed at practicing the breaching of the “three lines”: the “lifeline of energy imports,” the “escape route of Taiwanese independence forces” that might try to flee across the sea, and the “supply line of the United States and its allies providing aid to Taiwanese independence forces,” political scientist Zhang told CCTV.
The spokesperson for the Taiwanese presidential office, Kuo Ya-hui, called the Chinese exercises “regrettable.” China was “using unilateral military provocations to threaten Taiwan’s democracy and freedom,” Kuo said in a video statement. She stressed that maintaining peace and stability in the region should be the shared responsibility and common goal of both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Military analyst Ben Lewis noted on Twitter/X that the designation “Joint Sword 2024A” could indicate the start of a series of exercises (B, C, D, etc.). However, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense did not want to confirm this assumption in the evening.
However, Beijing’s threats are not the only headache for Taiwan’s new government. It also faces considerable challenges from the domestic opposition. On May 17, violent disputes broke out in parliament when the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), which controls the legislature with the support of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), wanted to push through a bill to expand the power of parliament and restrict that of the executive.
DPP deputies, who have been in the minority since the January elections, tried to prevent the vote by occupying the lectern. In the ensuing scuffle, four DPP MPs and one KMT MP sustained injuries so severe that they required medical assistance. The images of the fighting in parliament and the dramatic fall of an MP caused a nationwide uproar, with several hundred protesters quickly gathering in front of parliament on the same evening.
The so-called “parliamentary reform” aims to grant the legislature more investigative rights, which are currently mainly the responsibility of the justice system and the control yuan, which is unique in Taiwan’s political system. In addition, the plan is to oblige the president to regularly answer questions in parliament. Another point of contention is the planned punishment for “contempt of parliament.” For example, a minister asking a question in return when questioned by MPs could already be interpreted as contempt. When German broadcaster Deutsche Welle asked about the definition of such a question on Thursday, KMT MP Wu Tsung-hsien replied that this would be clarified once the law had been passed. The concern is that journalists and companies could also be forced to disclose secrets.
Civil society organizations and the DPP particularly criticize the speed and lack of transparency with which bills are rushed through parliament. They say there is not enough opportunity for MPs to read and debate the bills. The Taiwan Bar Association stated that the legislature’s failure to debate properly “not only undermines Taiwan’s democratic foundations, but also violates the fundamental principles of democratic constitutionalism and representative democracy.”
When the vote on the bills continued on Tuesday, one day after Lai took office, tens of thousands gathered outside parliament to express their anger at the opposition’s plans. “It’s not democracy without debate” and “I disrespect parliament” were just two of the protest slogans that could be heard repeatedly. However, KMT chairman Eric Chu warned the DPP against risking a “civil war” with their strategy. The vote will continue this Friday. Further protests have been announced.
The German government appears to be heading towards a decision on how to deal with Huawei components in German networks. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Transport and Network Minister Volker Wissing and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser discussed the next steps at the Chancellery on Thursday. Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock were also present.
According to reports, Scholz and his ministers are now seeking a quick decision after the government and the public have been discussing the use of Chinese technology in critical networks for years, always using the same arguments. A decision could be made before the parliamentary summer recess, which starts at the beginning of July.
Faeser already decided in September to ban Huawei and ZTE from Germany’s networks. The three mobile network providers Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica have been instructed to remove critical Chinese components from their core networks by the end of 2025. The plan is to free the access network in Germany’s biggest cities, especially Berlin, from Chinese components by 2026.
But this is another point of contention between the German government parties. While Faeser would have preferred to have every component with the red logo removed, Wissing urged prudence. As minister, he is responsible for network quality. And that would suffer without using high-quality, low-cost Chinese technology. In December, there were already calls for the German Chancellor, who ultimately has the authority to issue directives, to intervene.
A series of papers from the Ministry of the Interior have already outlined the key points of the Huawei phase-out. The aim is to remove Huawei from all parts of the network by 2029.
In practice, this means that already installed components can stay connected, but with the transition to 6G by the end of the decade, German operators will do without Huawei and place their orders with Nokia and Ericsson in the EU. With the change in the technical generation, the use of Chinese parts will come to an end.
The advantage of this solution is that it would not require the exclusion of Huawei. The Chinese ambassador Wu Ken had already threatened in 2019: “If Germany were to take a decision that leads to Huawei’s exclusion from the German market, you could expect consequences.” In other words, the handling of Huawei falls within the context of global trade conflicts.
The considerations are based on a distinction between the core network and the access network:
Germany’s telecommunications providers have already largely removed Huawei components from the core network. Telekom now hopes to be able to keep the Huawei equipment in the access network. “The question is: Is an antenna a critical element, yes or no? We can argue that it is not considered a critical element under German law,” said Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hoettges last year, according to German broadcaster ZDF. That was the end of the matter for him.
Even after years of discussion, Huawei’s market share in the wireless network is higher in the German capital than in Beijing. This is according to calculations by the British management consultancy Strand Consult. In China, the private company Huawei shares the market with the state-owned company ZTE and international providers. In Germany, Huawei’s share is around 60 percent.
Immediately removing all existing Huawei parts, as various parties have called for, would be very expensive, slow down the networks and delay their expansion. Such costly interventions in the economy can only be justified by high risks.
There is often vague mention of “Chinese influence” on German networks. Security experts warn of three scenarios in particular. As a supplier of components, Huawei has the following capabilities (in decreasing likelihood):
What is considered unlikely:
All fears are founded on the scenario of deteriorating relations with China, culminating in a conflict, in which China would react hostile. Even if the risks remain vague, there is still a general unease about buying technology for modern networks from a rival power given this possibility.
The 5G network and its successors are not just used to transmit websites, WhatsApp messages, video game data, or videos. In the age of the Internet of Things, they will become more like the air we breathe. Autonomous cars exchange information about the traffic situation in milliseconds, doctors read data in pacemakers and insulin pumps in real time, and factories use 5G to coordinate robots.
Anyone who hands over the development of this nervous system of modern technology generally makes themselves vulnerable. This concerns not just random electronics, but critical infrastructure such as electricity, water or airports.
This is why there is also a strong industrial policy case for abandoning Huawei. Europe must have the ability to lay and update these networks itself. Contracting Nokia from Finland and Ericsson from Sweden will help boost domestic providers and keep them up to date.
China is doing the same. Suppliers such as Siemens once helped China develop its first wireless networks. However, China deemed it unacceptable to be dependent on foreign countries for such important technology and supported ZTE and Huawei in their growth – including with subsidies. Experts believe that the Chinese state has considerable influence over both companies.
Meanwhile, the German mobile network operator 1&1 is taking a different approach. Together with a Japanese partner, it relies on Open RAN, a manufacturer-independent standard considered more transparent.
The 77th Cannes Film Festival comes to an end on Saturday. One conclusion can already be drawn: After pandemic-related breaks and accusations of censorship, Chinese film is back. Veteran star director Jia Zhangke (left) presented his romantic drama “Caught by the Tides,” which captures the changes in China over the past 25 years. Peter Chan’s “She’s Got No Name” tells the story of a murder case in 1940s Shanghai. The leading role is played by Zhang Ziyi. Other films from China and Hong Kong included Lou Yes’ “An Unfinished Film,” Soi Cheang’s “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” and Guan Hu’s “Black Dog.” The French-Chinese documentary “Kangxi and Louis XIV,” which deals with parallels between the two unequal rulers, was also screened on the fringes of the festival.
