00:00Can you briefly walk us through the U.S. Israel strikes on Iran, what each side hopes to achieve, and
00:05why this conflict is happening?
00:07Well, obviously, the airstrike is an immediate result of failed diplomatic approaches to everyone else.
00:15But unlike the 12-day war we saw last June, when the military actions were limited,
00:22what happened yesterday is just unprecedented in terms of the narrative and the targets.
00:28I believe for Israel, it has been quite clear that, as they claim, Iran has been an existential threat.
00:37So any preemptive attack to destroy Iran's missile and nuclear programs is seen as a necessity at this point.
00:46As for the U.S., at this point, it's quite clear to all that a regime change, as President Donald
00:53Trump claims, is the goal.
00:54And how the Trump administration perceives the most recent domestic unrest in Iran has also set a tipping point for
01:02Trump's approach to Iran at the moment.
01:05I think for now, making Israel and also other Gulf states pay a high price beyond their expectation for this
01:15war is what the Iranian regime wants.
01:17How could this conflict affect Taiwan?
01:19I believe we should anticipate, unfortunately, the short-term impact on the energy market.
01:27Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs has announced that, you know, Zhongyou in Taiwan will increase petrol and diesel price,
01:36which will most likely affect all aspects of our domestic market.
01:42But I do believe the stabilization mechanism and also the Taiwanese government's subsidy will do their best, sort of, you
01:52know, to alleviate the impact.
01:53I believe most people are quite concerned with Iran's strategic partnership with China.
02:00So given that, you know, 90 percent of Iran's energy exports flow to China, right?
02:06So therefore, I think it's kind of understandable that, you know, most Taiwanese would favor a weakened Iranian regime and
02:17even the regime change in the future, thereby sort of undermining China's overall capabilities.
02:24How could the situation affect U.S.-China relations, especially with two leaders are set to meet later this month?
02:31Big chances are that the war would not fundamentally change both sides' agenda setting in the meeting.
02:41A weakened Iranian regime would definitely undermine China's capacity.
02:46Capacity in the region most likely will also offer China less in negotiating with the U.S.
02:54by the upcoming meeting, or to put it another way, it would give the Trump administration some leverage in the
03:01upcoming meeting,
03:03especially, you know, since some Chinese analysts may believe that, you know, President Xi Jinping has gained more confidence
03:11and the kind of the initiative in the Sino U.S. rivalry after Donald Trump's legal setback.
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