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Concerns That China May Be Planning To Invade Taiwan; Cars Without Certain Features; What Is "Plein Air"? Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired March 16, 2022 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hi. I`m Carl Azuz, delivering your midweek edition of CNN 10. Thank you for watching.
While so much international attention is focused right now on what`s happening in Ukraine, some experts on international affairs are focused on
what could happen in Taiwan.
This is an island that`s a little bigger than the U.S. state of Maryland. It`s located about miles southeast of mainland China and Taiwan and China
have a very sensitive relationship.
China`s communist government considers the island to be a part of China. It has since the 1940s when the communist party won a civil war and forced the
nation`s previous government to flee to Taiwan. Since then, every communist leader of the mainland has promised to take control of the island.
But Taiwan has its own government, a democracy and wants to keep things as they are. So their dispute is not new. What is are concerns that China may
be looking at Russia`s invasion of Ukraine and the international response to it and considering doing something similar in Taiwan. To be clear, we
don`t know if that`s going to happen.
The U.S. supports Taiwan like it does Ukraine. It sent weapons to the island like it has to Ukraine and America wants to limit China`s influence
in Asia, like it wants to limit Russia`s influence in Eastern Europe.
But if the international sanctions on Russia are not enough to stop its invasion of Ukraine, would a similar policy toward China be enough to
prevent it from targeting Taiwan?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kyiv and Taipei, two capitals half a world apart. One under siege, the other on
edge.
I worry this may happen to Taiwan, he says.
These two work at a small vegetable stand.
If war breaks out, it`s bad for both sides, she says. It will be a tragedy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin`s attack on Ukraine raising questions about the future of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy claimed but never
controlled by Beijing`s communist rulers.
Taiwan`s leaders say Ukraine could be a blueprint for Beijing to, quote, reunify by force if necessary.
JOSEPH WU, FOREIGN MINISTER OF TAIWAN: And the danger will be that the Chinese leaders think that the Western reaction to the Russian aggression
is weak.
RIPLEY: Taiwan`s military is on high alert. The island`s reserve forces are doubling down on combat training just in case China decides to make
good on its threats.
Chinese President Xi Jinping`s first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader since COVID? President Putin in Beijing bolstering their
authoritarian partnership.
China still refuses to call the crisis in Ukraine an invasion.
J. MICHAEL COLE, SENIOR FELLOW, GLOBAL INSTITUTE TAIWAN: There is a possibility, however slim, that autocratic regimes could decide for their
own calculations, their own reasons, to use force against a democratic country.
RIPLEY: China does not consider Taiwan a country. They call it an inalienable part of Chinese territory.
On Monday, China`s foreign minister, Wang Yi, shot down comparisons of Taiwan and Ukraine, calling Taiwan independence a dead end, a scheme to
contain China by external forces like the U.S.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (on camera): There are important differences between Ukraine and Taiwan. First of all, Taiwan`s an island, so it`s much harder to invade.
Plus, regional allies like Japan have already signaled that they would come to the island`s defense if China invaded.
The U.S. keeping its policy of strategic ambiguity, but Taiwan is in critical importance to the U.S. because of this location on the first
island chain sitting right there in the middle strategically protecting the United States from a potential Chinese invasion. Taiwan, also a global
leader in semiconductors that power pretty much every device in our lives. And, of course, those same things also make Taiwan very attractive to
China.
All eyes now on this partnership between China and Russia, to see what develops in the coming weeks.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
AZUZ: There`s already a global shortage of semiconductors aka computer chips. The reasons for that include shutdowns related to COVID, soaring
demand for electronics that use semiconductors and trade restrictions between the U.S. and China.
Now, some U.S. carmakers are delivering vehicles without certain features because they don`t have enough chips to fully finish them. For instance
people in the back seats of new Ford Explorers won`t have air and heat adjustments. Their temperature will be controlled from the front of the
car. Last year, General Motors stopped including heated seats and parking help features on some models, as well as systems that help improve gas
mileage because of the chip shortage.
But the companies say they can add many of these features to customers` cars later on at no charge when chips become available. Despite this issue
car, prices are at record highs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:
What is meant by the term "plein air"?
Taking a walk, painting outdoors, open-cockpit flying, or leaving untreated?
When it comes to art, plein air painting is completed outside.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: It`s a popular and classic method of producing landscapes, though some artists prefer to photograph the great outdoors and then paint them
later in their studios.
There are three main types of landscape art. Representational, which aims to be more realistic. There`s impressionistic art which is less detailed
and more painterly. And there`s abstract, which sets free the artist`s imagination.
Today`s feature centers on the work of an impressionistic modern artist.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHEN WONG, LANDSCAPE PAINTER: I always think that being a landscape painter, you need to be greedy about space. I always like to include more
and more. In a landscape, actually, the sky is a very important element to manipulate the whole feelings of the scenery. The colors of the sky and
also the clouds, what forms they are on that day. But at the same time, they are changing very quickly.
Comparatively the trees and also the mountains, they are quite stable, but they are influenced by the light and shadow. All these impressions affect
how I paint.
SUBTITLE: Landscape painter Stephen Wong is working on one of his most ambitious projects to date. Capturing the 100-kilometer MacLehose Trail in
Hong Kong across 10 large-scale canvases and nearly 40 smaller works.
WONG: The MacLehose Trail is a very iconic trail in Hong Kong. When you hike from Sai Kung to the Tuen Mun area, you come across to so many famous
mountains, beaches, to the very famous reservoir with thousand islands.
During the hike, the whole space is really big and also I come across to so many different things.
When you sketch and you draw, you really have to choose what really interested you or what you think is important. This make it quite different
from taking photograph.
After coming back to the studio, I will try to recompose what I have experienced in the trail. I combine the sketches, my memory of hiking.
I use imagination to fill in the blank areas. For me, it`s just like playing Legos. You build up the landscape by composition, lines and colors.
That`s why on the canvas, you can recognize some very iconic scenery but at the same time, you can`t see it in the real nature.
I always interested in how I interpret the nature rather than the accuracy of capturing the scenery.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: Fun facts two other terms for a wolverine are carcajou and skunk bear. I learn a lot in this job.
Today, I also learned that this is the first wolverine ever captured in the state of Utah. They`re usually found farther north.
Wildlife experts trapped him over the past week. He had been preying on a herd of sheep. They estimate he`s around four years old, 28 pounds and four
feet long. He was sedated, examined and collared so officials can track where he goes.
It`s not unusual for wolverines to forge their own paths. They`re rogues that can mimic other predators and wreaking havoc through the ice, man. Of
course, the shepherd hopes officials Vulcan sway that Magneto creature to follow the North Star to a different sunspot beneath the Aurora, even if
that`s a long shot.
I`m Carl Azuz, and we`re getting comical on CNN 10.
Methuen High School, it is great to have you watching from Methuen, Massachusetts.
END
