ConflictBarometer_2016

ASIA AND OCEANIA
CHINA (TAIWAN)
Intensity: 2 | Change: | Start: 1949
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
ROC vs. PRC
secession, system/ideology
The non-violent crisis between the People's Republic of China
(PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) over the political status
of Taiwan continued.
On January 16, Tsai Ing-Wen, chairwoman of the Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP), was elected as the new president
of the ROC. On the same day, the PRC stated that the result
of the election would not change the ''one China fact” and
continued to oppose Taiwanese independence. On March
6, PRC President Xi Jinping stated during the annual session
of the National People's Congress that the PRC would never
again allow the separation of Taiwan. In her inauguration
speech on May 20, Tsai stated that she respected the ''fact”
of the ''various joint acknowledgments and understandings
in 1992.” PRC's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) responded by criticizing
Tsai's ''murky attitude” towards the ''1992 Consensus.”
At the end of June, TAO's spokesperson An Fengshan stated
that regular cross-strait communication had been suspended
since Tsai's inauguration. On July 1, a Taiwanese patrol ship
off Kaohsiung mistakenly launched a short-range missile in
the direction of China, destroying a Taiwanese fishing boat off
the Penghu Islands, leaving its captain dead and three others
injured. Right after the incident, TAO Director Zhang Zhijun
demanded a ''responsible explanation.” On July 3, spokesman
of ROC's Ministry of National Defense, General Chen Chung-
Chi, apologized on behalf of the military and stated that the
incident was not politically motivated. On August 17, Zhang
stated during a business meeting with Taiwanese delegation
that it was impossible for the ''doors for future cross-strait
agreements to be open” without the ''1992 Consensus” as
foundation. After tourism from the mainland to Taiwan had
sharply decreased, 10,000 tourism operators protested in
the ROC's capital Taipei on September 12. Six days later, a
delegation of ROC's opposition party Kuomintang met with
Zhang and Yu Zhengsheng, Chairman of the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference, in the PRC's capital Beijing
to discuss the promotion of tourism. On September 21, after
Chen Deming, Chairman of the PRC's Association for Relations
Across the Taiwan Strait, had effectively declared the
1992 consensus to be the basis of its negotiations with the
Strait Exchange Foundation, ROC's Mainland Affairs Council
urged Beijing not to set political preconditions for cross-strait
interaction. On October 10, Tsai called on the PRC to restart
talks after official communication had stopped for nearly five
months. On December 2, Tsai called the president-elect of
the US, Donald Trump, congratulating him on his election win.
In response to the call, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang
Yi called it as a ''small trick”, the PRC lodged a diplomatic
protest with the US [→ China – USA]. Throughout the year,
as part of its anti-corruption campaign, the PRC requested
Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Kenya to extradite Taiwanese
suspects of telecom fraud to the mainland, leading
to several protests of the Taiwanese government.
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On the international level, the ROC suffered a new decline of
political status vis-à-vis the PRC. Following the PRC's insistence
on the one-China principle, the International Aviation
Organization excluded Taiwan from attending its assemblies,
while the World Health Organization downgraded its membership.
On March 17, the PRC reestablished diplomatic ties
with Gambia, which broke diplomatic relations with the ROC
in 2013. On December 20, Sao Tomé and Principe ended
diplomatic ties with the ROC. lja
CHINA (TIBET)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 1950
Conflict parties:
CTA, Tibetans, TYC vs. government
Conflict items: autonomy, system/ideology, resources
The violent crisis between the Central Tibetan Administration
(CTA), the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), and local Tibetan
communities, on the one hand, and the government,
on the other, over the status of the greater region of Tibet
and its resources, continued. While local Tibetans staged
several protests against mining projects, forced land expropriation,
and ethno-religious discrimination, CTA and TYC
continued their opposition from their exile in India. On
March 28, around 200 Tibetans protested against a mining
project at a mountain regarded as sacred in Akhore Town,
Chuchen/Jinchuang County, Sichuan Province. Around 80 policemen
dispersed the protest, injuring about 20 and detaining
several protesters. Two months later, Chinese authorities
suspended mining operations and related construction work
in the area. On May 31, clashes between police and around 80
Tibetans at a mining project in Amchok Town, Sangchu/Xiahe
County, Gansu Province, left six people injured. On April 8,
the Chinese police detained 29 Tibetan graduates as they
protested against discrimination in local government employment
in Machu/Maqu County, Gansu Province. On June 1,
state authorities deployed police forces and used heavy machinery
to tear down 600 unauthorized buildings near the
Qinghai Lake in Tanakma Town, Chabcha/Gonghe County,
Qinghai Province. Twelve days later, over 100 Tibetan women
staged a protest in front of the local government office in Gaochoe
Village, Lhundrub/Linzhou County, Tibetan Autonomous
Region (TAR), after the government had confiscated farmland
for construction projects. On June 23, hundreds of
Tibetans protested at the Qinghai Lake near Trelnak Town,
Chabcha/Gonghe, after local authorities had threatened to
tear down their homes. Around 30 police officers injured
eight protesters in violent clashes.
As in previous years, authorities enforced tight religious control.
On January 25, police detained two monks at the Chokri