Taiwan regional leader Lai Ching-te should prioritize political harmony, regional stability, and economic prosperity in the region, said Mignonne Chan, deputy director with the Taiwan Center for Security Studies, stressing the importance of maintaining cross-Strait exchanges.
Chan's statement came following reports that Lai has begun his trip to so-called "diplomatic allies" in the Pacific and has arrived in Hawaii for a "stopover."
Noting internal frictions within the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) over policy direction, Chan pointed out that Lai's approval rating has been declining since his election.
"Lai Ching-te has 40 percent of the voters. However, within the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party), I understand that they also have a great fractions in terms of a policy direction. So I think Lai' s support perhaps is less, much less than 40 percent. It is an alarm, I believe, that Lai and his staffers should be quite aware of," said Chan.
The expert emphasized that Lai should be aware of the current geopolitical and geoeconomic dynamics and work to ensure regional stability.
"I for one have always believe that the cross-Strait exchange should not and cannot be stopped. Only by exchange can people get to know each other better, and our friendship will be rekindled during the past eight years during the Ma Ying-jeou era. I believe that Lai is always on the learning curve and he has to have eyes wide open and understand what is really going on in the geopolitical and geoeconomic dynamics. And it is for him to live up to the leadership role and then to make a political harmony, regional stability, and economic prosperity in the region," she said.
Taiwan expert urges Lai Ching-te to prioritize regional stability, economic prosperity
China on Wednesday used an upgraded version of the Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) carrier rocket to launch a new remote-sensing satellite into orbit.
The upgraded version of the Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) carrier rocket, carrying the new remote-sensing satellite equipped with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR), blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 12:46 Beijing Time (0446 GMT) on Wednesday.
The upgraded version of the Kuaizhou-1A, a solid-propellant rocket, has a stronger payload capacity, higher reliability and improved performance.
"The fairing diameter has been enlarged from 1.4 to 1.8 meters, and the payload capacity of the Kuaizhou-1A in low Earth orbit has increased from 300 to 450 kilograms. Additionally, we have incorporated various technologies, including optimized high-load ratios, detasking, landing area control, and online parameter adjustment, which enhance the rocket's reliability and performance," said Fan Wei, deputy chief designer of the Kuaizhou-1A.
The mission development team also further optimized the orbital control scheme and applied landing control and other technologies, improving both the mission's adaptability and reliability, enabling it to undertake various types of launch missions, according to Fan. "Moving forward, the Kuaizhou-1A and Kuaizhou-11 will complement each other to form a system of low- and high-orbit carrier rockets, which will better serve the domestic microsatellite market," Fan said.
Remote sensing satellites refer to those tasked with observing, surveying and measuring objects on land or at sea as well as monitoring weather.
The mission marked the 28th flight of the Kuaizhou 1A model as well as China's 61st space launch so far this year.
Developed by China Space Sanjiang Group, the 20-meter Kuaizhou 1A is the country's most used solid-propellant carrier rocket model.
China uses upgraded version of Kuaizhou 1A carrier rocket to launch satellite
