China Reform Monitor: No. 965

April 9:

Republic of China (ROC) President Ma Ying-jeou has stopped in Mumbai, India, en route to Africa, becoming the first president of Taiwan to transit there. Ma’s plane landed in Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport for an 85-minute “refueling” while he waited in the airport’s VIP lounge and met with Taiwan’s representative to India and local government officials. The Mumbai stop was a surprise because the official itinerary showed that Ma would stop in Dubai, the Taipei Times reports. Ma thanked both India and the United Arab Emirates for agreeing to the stopovers. “There were other countries that also agreed to let us make transit stops, and we cherish the diplomatic achievements,” he said. Ma’s Africa trip marked his sixth official trip overseas since 2008. Ma has made stopovers in the U.S. during his five previous foreign trips. Taiwan will establish an overseas mission in Chennai, India.

April 18:

ROC President Ma has wrapped up a 12-day, three-country tour of Africa aimed at reaffirming Taipei’s diplomatic links on the continent. Ma visited Burkina Faso, the Gambia and Swaziland during his first trip to Africa since taking office in 2008. In Burkina Faso, President Blaise Compaore welcomed Ma with full military honors and a 21-gun salute, the Taipei Times reports. In the Gambia, Ma signed a joint communiqué with Gambian President Yahya Jammeh who thanked the ROC for its assistance in agriculture, health care, human resources, and infrastructure development, The China Post reports. In Swaziland, Ma was greeted by King Mswati III and presented with the Order of the Lion - the kingdom’s highest honor, VOA reports. Each African leader reiterated support for Taipei’s efforts to join international organizations. Yet, Beijing’s influence loomed over Ma’s Africa tour. Days before he departed Taipei, Sao Tome and Principe’s president said he would not be available due to a scheduling conflict. The announcement came after the country’s delegates attended a conference hosted by China for Portuguese-speaking nations, raising concerns about the stability of bilateral diplomatic ties.

April 23:

An organization in Sichuan that promotes unity among ethnic Tibetans was shut down, prompting two days of clashes between police and thousands of Tibetans, Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reports. The Dayul United Association was closed on April 14 due to “political issues” and about 250 Tibetans connected to the group were detained. Tibetans angered with the mass detention clashed with police leaving at least 19 injured. The next day more than 2,000 Tibetans joined a second protest demanding authorities release the detainees, resulting in the release of all but 33. Meanwhile, in Qinghai, the Tibetan singer Lolo was arrested for singing “political songs” after she released an album entitled “Children of the snowy region, raise your Tibetan flags.”

April 26:

Although Beijing would like to obtain the new Russian S-400 Triumf air missile defense systems in 2015, Moscow will not sell them to China until 2017, Russian Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov said in aninterview for the Interfax-AVN news agency. At the next session of the China-Russia intergovernmental commission on military-technical cooperation this fall both sides will discuss a long list of military systems that Moscow is proposing to sell China, including the S-400, Serdyukov said. The S-400 Triumf, billed as “the most formidable long-range anti- aircraft and anti-missile defense system in the world,” can intercept and destroy airborne targets at up to 400 km – twice the range of the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot and 2.5 times that of the S-300PMU-2. It can also intercept “stealth aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, with a range of up to 3,500 km and a speed of up to 4.8 km per second,” UPI reports.

April 28:

ROC Foreign Minister Timothy Yang has invited Myanmar’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to visit Taiwan and recognized her “achievements and contribution.” Yang told Taiwan’s official Central News Agency that “her visit, if possible, would be warmly welcomed” and that the ROC is working to expand ties with both Myanmar and India through a policy of “viable diplomacy.” Although both countries hold official diplomatic ties with Beijing (and not Taipei), further exchanges can still be achieved, Yang said. In the past Myanmar’s close relations with Beijing have disrupted its relationship with Taipei and Yang acknowledged that although the ROC “has made every possible effort, Myanmar's responses have remained far from ideal.” Myanmar’s political reforms and the improvement of cross-Strait relations have boosted Taipei’s hopes to emerge as a partner in Myanmar’s economic and democratic development.

[Editor’s Note: Coined by Ma when he assumed the presidency in 2008, the term “viable diplomacy” refers to Taipei’s diplomatic policy of expanding its presence in the international community while competing with Beijing.]