Latest news with #BenBlanchard
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Taiwan's storied Palace Museum must expand its global horizons, president says
By Ben Blanchard TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan's National Palace Museum, home to one of the world's biggest collections of imperial Chinese treasures, must expand its horizons internationally to let the "world see Taiwan", President Lai Ching-te said on Friday as it marked its centenary. The museum was re-established in Taiwan in 1965 after the Republic of China government lost a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists and fled to the island in 1949, taking with them thousands of cases of antiques once owned by China's emperors, saving them from destruction during and after the revolution. While it is a top tourist attraction, the presence of so many Chinese artefacts has over the years caused discomfort to those Taiwanese who champion the island's separate and distinct identity from China. Speaking to inaugurate an exhibit of French impressionist and early modernist paintings from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lai said the National Palace Museum was a "state asset". "The National Palace Museum not only needs to deepen its roots locally, it also needs to deepen them internationally. We need to go into the world, to let the world see Taiwan, but also to bring the world to Taiwan," he said at the museum, located in Taipei's foothills. "The National Palace Museum is not only the National Palace Museum of Taiwan, but also the National Palace Museum of the world, and I believe these values should be strongly supported by the international community." A competing institution remains in Beijing, the similarly named Palace Museum, though the National Palace Museum is not planning any joint anniversary events with China. Quincy Houghton, the Met's Deputy Director for Exhibitions and International Initiatives, speaking at the event with Lai, praised the close relations between the museums, including in 1996 when the National Palace Museum sent some of its collection to the Met. "We are honoured to collaborate with the National Palace Museum on its very special centennial year," she said. Works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne are on show at the National Palace Museum until mid-October.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Taking lessons from Ukraine, Taiwan eyes sea drones to counter China
By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard WUSHI, Taiwan (Reuters) -Just off the small Taiwan fishing port of Wushi on its Pacific coast, a Taiwanese company is testing what could eventually be a powerful but unglamorous new weapon in the island's military arsenal - sea drones. Used to great effect by Ukraine in the Black Sea against Russia, Taiwan is learning lessons on how it could use sea drones as an effective and low-cost way to fend off any possible Chinese invasion. These drones are uncrewed, remotely controlled small vessels that are packed with explosives and can be guided toward ships or potentially even attack targets in the air. Pushed by the United States, Taiwan has been working to transform its armed forces to be able to wage "asymmetric warfare", using mobile, smaller and often cheaper weapons which still pack a targeted punch, like sea drones. "Uncrewed boats or vehicles have played a very significant role in the Ukraine war," Chen Kuan-ting, a lawmaker for Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) who sits on parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee, told Reuters. "Uncrewed vehicles, whether they are boats or underwater vehicles, can effectively deter China because Taiwan is not the attacking side, we are the defending side," he said. Taiwan's defence ministry's research and development arm, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, has termed the sea drone plan the "Swift and Sudden" project, which so far has a modest budget of around T$800 million ($26.77 million). Defence Minister Wellington Koo said on Wednesday sea drones would be included in an additional spending package to be unveiled later this year. Details of that special budget have yet to be announced. William Chen, chairman of the Thunder Tiger company, told Reuters last week on a boat off Wushi while viewing a test of their SeaShark 800 sea drone, which can carry 1,200 kg (2,600 lbs) of explosives and travel up to 500 km (310 miles), that these new weapons present an element of surprise for China. "We can create uncertainty. We can fill the Taiwan Strait with danger and risks. No one knows where these dangers could surface," Chen added. SEA DRONE SHOW Next week, Thunder Tiger will be among 12 Taiwanese and foreign companies joining an exhibition just down the coast from Wushi arranged by the defence ministry to showcase unmanned surface vehicles that may end up being added to Taiwan's arsenal. Other companies taking part, according to the ministry, include Taiwan navy contractor Lungteh Shipbuilding and U.S. military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries. "Drones is a top priority for both the United States and Taiwan. Obviously the conflict in Ukraine is focusing minds on what the next generation of warfare will look like," said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, who is leading a U.S. defence industry delegation to Taiwan this week, including drone makers. China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has ramped up its military pressure over the past five years, including staging half a dozen rounds of war games. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Taiwan has been studying how Ukraine has deployed drones to successfully offset Russia's advantage on the battlefield and has enlisted commercial drone companies, including Thunder Tiger, to help. Ukraine has deployed sea drones not only to attack ships in Russia's Black Sea fleet, but also to shoot down aircraft. Taiwan's navy is dwarfed by that of China with its aircraft carriers and ballistic missile submarines, though the country lacks recent combat experience. China's last successful large-scale amphibious assault was in 1950 when it seized Hainan island at the tail end of the Chinese civil war, with troops ferried across on junks. Peter Chen, a drone expert and executive director of Taiwan security think tank TTRDA, said Taiwan can undoubtedly make world-class sea drones. "But when it comes to the application, how to turn them into top-notch weapons, it is not the responsibility of private companies. The views of government and the military on how to properly integrate the weapons into the battle strategy, that needs more thinking," he said.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Exclusive-China flexes military muscle with East Asian naval activity, sources say
By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard (Reuters) -China has flexed its muscles this month by sending an unusually large number of naval and coast guard vessels through a swathe of East Asian waters, according to security documents and officials, in moves that have unnerved regional capitals. Since early May, China deployed fleets larger than usual, including navy, coast guard and other ships near Taiwan, the southern Japanese islands and the East and South China Seas, according to three regional security officials and documents of regional military activities reviewed by Reuters. On May 21 and May 27, for instance, China deployed nearly 60 and more than 70 ships, respectively, around three-quarters of them naval, the documents show. These included guided-missile frigates, destroyers and coast guard boats. Beijing also dispatched two aircraft carrier groups, with the Shandong now in the busy waterway of the South China Sea and the Liaoning off the southeastern coast of Taiwan, the documents show. "They are exerting pressure on the whole of the first island chain amid global geopolitical uncertainties," said one security official. The reference is to waters stretching from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing the seas around China's coast. "They are trying to reinforce their dominance," the source said, adding that drills this month by the Liaoning, the oldest of China's three aircraft carriers, simulated attacks on foreign ships and aircraft around the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. There was an "obvious" stepped-up Chinese naval presence this month, added a second source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as did the first, citing the sensitivity of the intelligence assessment. "China clearly wants to show these are its home waters and it can operate when and where it wants," the source said. China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. LIVE FIRE DRILLS Over the past two weeks China declared several live-fire drill areas off its coast, including last week one directly facing southwestern Taiwan. Last Wednesday, Chinese state television showed images of amphibious drills in the southern province of Fujian, across the strait from Taiwan, but did not give an exact location. This week, Japan has been tracking the Liaoning and its accompanying warships through the southern Japanese islands and into the Western Pacific. China seems to be trying to improve its capacity to operate far from the Chinese coast, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said. "The Japanese government intends to keep a close eye on relevant movement and do its utmost in carrying out monitoring and surveillance activities," he told reporters on Wednesday. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the ships' activities were in line with international law and practice and Japan should "look at them objectively and rationally". China has kept up its stand-off with the Philippines in the South China Sea, where its foreign ministry on Friday urged the Philippines to immediately stop "infringement and provocation". The Philippine Navy's spokesperson on South China Sea issues, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, told Reuters that China's "illegal presence" in the maritime zones of Southeast Asian states "has been disturbing the peace in the region and is contrary to pronouncements of its 'peaceful rise'." The spike in Chinese military activity has also come as Taiwan President Lai Ching-te marked the anniversary this month of a year in office. China has staged three major rounds of war games since the inauguration of Lai, whom it calls a "separatist". On Wednesday, Taiwan's defence ministry said the Liaoning was off the island's southeast coast, adding that Taiwan would raise its combat preparedness in line with the threat level.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Exclusive-China flexes military muscle with East Asian naval activity, sources say
By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard (Reuters) -China has flexed its muscles this month by sending an unusually large number of naval and coast guard vessels through a swathe of East Asian waters, according to security documents and officials, in moves that have unnerved regional capitals. Since early May, China deployed fleets larger than usual, including navy, coast guard and other ships near Taiwan, the southern Japanese islands and the East and South China Seas, according to three regional security officials and documents of regional military activities reviewed by Reuters. On May 21 and May 27, for instance, China deployed nearly 60 and more than 70 ships, respectively, around three-quarters of them naval, the documents show. These included guided-missile frigates, destroyers and coast guard boats. Beijing also dispatched two aircraft carrier groups, with the Shandong now in the busy waterway of the South China Sea and the Liaoning off the southeastern coast of Taiwan, the documents show. "They are exerting pressure on the whole of the first island chain amid global geopolitical uncertainties," said one security official. The reference is to waters stretching from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing the seas around China's coast. "They are trying to reinforce their dominance," the source said, adding that drills this month by the Liaoning, the oldest of China's three aircraft carriers, simulated attacks on foreign ships and aircraft around the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. There was an "obvious" stepped-up Chinese naval presence this month, added a second source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as did the first, citing the sensitivity of the intelligence assessment. "China clearly wants to show these are its home waters and it can operate when and where it wants," the source said. China's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. LIVE FIRE DRILLS Over the past two weeks China declared several live-fire drill areas off its coast, including last week one directly facing southwestern Taiwan. Last Wednesday, Chinese state television showed images of amphibious drills in the southern province of Fujian, across the strait from Taiwan, but did not give an exact location. This week, Japan has been tracking the Liaoning and its accompanying warships through the southern Japanese islands and into the Western Pacific. China seems to be trying to improve its capacity to operate far from the Chinese coast, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said. "The Japanese government intends to keep a close eye on relevant movement and do its utmost in carrying out monitoring and surveillance activities," he told reporters on Wednesday. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the ships' activities were in line with international law and practice and Japan should "look at them objectively and rationally". China has kept up its stand-off with the Philippines in the South China Sea, where its foreign ministry on Friday urged the Philippines to immediately stop "infringement and provocation". The Philippine Navy's spokesperson on South China Sea issues, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, told Reuters that China's "illegal presence" in the maritime zones of Southeast Asian states "has been disturbing the peace in the region and is contrary to pronouncements of its 'peaceful rise'." The spike in Chinese military activity has also come as Taiwan President Lai Ching-te marked the anniversary this month of a year in office. China has staged three major rounds of war games since the inauguration of Lai, whom it calls a "separatist". On Wednesday, Taiwan's defence ministry said the Liaoning was off the island's southeast coast, adding that Taiwan would raise its combat preparedness in line with the threat level.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Taiwan president rallies the troops ahead of possible Chinese drills
By Ben Blanchard KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (Reuters) - Taiwan President Lai Ching-te offered his support and encouragement to the armed forces on Friday ahead of what the government has warned could be a new round of Chinese military exercises near the island from as early as next week. Taiwan cannot rule out that China will hold more military drills to "stir up trouble" around Tuesday's one-year anniversary of Lai taking office, a senior government spokesperson said on Thursday in Taipei. China calls Lai a "separatist" and has rebuffed his multiple offers for talks. Lai rejects China's sovereignty claims over the democratic and entirely separately governed island, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future. Lai visited army engineers and anti-submarine helicopter crews at bases in the southern city of Kaohsiung to thank them for their efforts before the traditional Dragon Boat festival at the end of the month. Both the army engineers and the navy's anti-submarine aviation command are the "cornerstones of the nation's armed forces' military strength, and also indispensable to the overall national defence strategy", he told a group of helicopter crew at a lunch at Kaohsiung's Zuoying navy base. "It is only because of your hard work and dedication that the military continues to thrive and the nation's people can live and work in peace and happiness," he added. "Let's work together to protect national security." Lai, who made no direct mention of China or potential for more drills, was accompanied by Defence Minister Wellington Koo and National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu, two of his most senior defence officials. China's Defence Ministry and Taiwan Affairs Office said this week that Lai was a "Taiwan Strait crisis maker" who had increased antagonism and confrontation and undermined peace and stability. Last month, China held war games code-named "Strait Thunder-2025A" around Taiwan, the "A" at its end suggesting there could be more to come. China called its May 2024 drills "Joint Sword - 2024A", held shortly after Lai took office, and in October of that year staged "Joint Sword - 2024B".
