20/05/2020
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan cannot accept becoming part of China under its “one country, two systems” offer of autonomy , President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday, strongly rejecting China’s sovereignty claims and likely setting the stage for an ever worsening of ties.
China responded that “reunification” was inevitable and that it would never tolerate Taiwan’s independence.
In a speech after being sworn in for her second and final term in office, Tsai said relations between Taiwan and China had reached an historical turning point.
“Both sides have a duty to find a way to coexist over the long term and prevent the intensification of antagonism and differences,” she said.
Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party won January’s presidential and parliamentary elections by a landslide, vowing to stand up to China, which claims Taiwan as its own and says it would be brought under Beijing’s control by force if needed.
“Here, I want to reiterate the words ‘peace, parity, democracy, and dialogue’. We will not accept the Beijing authorities’ use of ‘one country, two systems’ to downgrade Taiwan and undermine the cross-strait status quo. We stand fast by this principle,” Tsai said.
China uses the “one country, two systems” policy, which is supposed to guarantee a high degree of autonomy, to run the former British colony of Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997. It has offered it to Taiwan, though all major Taiwanese parties have rejected it.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, responding to Tsai, said Beijing would stick to “one country, two systems” – a central tenet of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Taiwan policy – and “not leave any space for Taiwan independence separatist activities”.
“Reunification is a historical inevitability of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” it said. “We have the firm will, full confidence, and sufficient ability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
China views Tsai as a separatist bent on formal independence for Taiwan. Tsai says Taiwan is an independent state called the Republic of China, its official name, and does not want to be part of the People’s Republic of China governed by Beijing.
TAIWAN OPEN TO DIALOGUE
China has stepped up its military drills near Taiwan since Tsai’s re-election, flying fighter jets into the island’s air space and sailing warships around Taiwan.
Tsai said Taiwan has made the greatest effort to maintain peace and stability in the narrow Taiwan Strait that separates the democratic island from its autocratic neighbour China.
“We will continue these efforts, and we are willing to engage in dialogue with China and make more concrete contributions to regional security,” she added, speaking in the garden of the old Japanese governor’s house in Taipei, in front of a socially-distanced audience of officials and diplomats.
Taiwan has become a rising source of friction between China and the United States, with the Trump administration strongly backing Taiwan even in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent his congratulations to Tsai on Tuesday, praising her “courage and vision in leading Taiwan’s vibrant democracy”, in a rare high-level message from Washington direct to Taiwan’s government.
China’s Foreign Ministry condemned Pompeo’s remarks, and said the government would take “necessary countermeasures”, though did not elaborate.
China cut off a formal talks mechanism with Taiwan in 2016 after Tsai first won election.
Yao Chia-wen, a senior adviser to Tsai, told Reuters the chance of talks with China were small given ongoing tensions.
“We are ready to engage with them any time, but China is unlikely to make concessions to Taiwan,” he said. “In the next four years there’s little chance for the cross-strait relationship to improve.”
Source: Reuters
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15/05/2020
- Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto tells Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, that his country ‘always upholds the one China principle’
- Wang also speaks to foreign ministers of Estonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina ahead of World Health Assembly, which starts on Monday
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to three European foreign ministers on Thursday. Photo: AP
Hungary supports Beijing’s efforts to prevent
Taiwan taking part in the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA), according to a Chinese statement issued after a telephone conversation between the two countries’ foreign ministers.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi called his European counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, on Thursday, the foreign ministry in Beijing said.
During the call, Szijjarto told Wang that Budapest would not support Taiwan’s accession to the World Health Organisation (WHO) ahead of the annual gathering of health ministers from around the world that starts in Geneva on Monday and which Taipei is keen to attend.
Hungary “always upholds the one China principle”, Szijjarto was quoted as saying.
A report about the ministers’ call by the Hungarian foreign ministry, however, made no mention of Taiwan.
It said that Szijjarto thanked Wang for the medical supplies China had sent to Hungary board 121 flights since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The pair also discussed cooperation on 5G and the development of a rail project between Budapest and the Serbian capital, Belgrade, it said.
Beijing opposes Taiwan’s involvement in the WHO. Photo: EPA-EFE
As well as speaking to Szijjarto, Wang called the foreign ministers of Estonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic, but Taiwan was not mentioned, the Chinese statement said.
Taipei donated 80,000 face masks to Estonia in April, and last week, Urmas Paet, an Estonian member of the European parliament urged Budapest to support Taiwan’s membership of the WHO and “not allow itself to be manipulated by China”.
Taiwan has long campaigned to regain observer status at the WHO and has ramped up those efforts since the start of the global health crisis. Despite the devastation caused by Covid-19,
Taiwan has reported just 440 confirmed cases and seven deaths.
Taiwan attended the WHA meetings as an observer between 2009 and 2016, unopposed by Beijing as at the time the island was led by president Ma Ying-jiu from the mainland-friendly Kuomintang.
However, relations between Taipei and Beijing have soured since 2016 and the election of
President Tsai Ing-wen, from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, who won a second term of office in January.
WHO put nations at risk by excluding Taiwan from knowledge sharing, US report says
13 May 2020
Taiwan has not been alone in its campaign to regain its WHO status, with the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and several European countries backing the move.
Last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on all nations to support Taipei’s participation as an observer at the WHA, and urged WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to allow it.
Despite the support, Taiwan’s Vice-Premier Chen Chien-jen said on Thursday that because of the pressure from Beijing there was now little chance of Taiwan attending the WHA.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said last week it was “resolutely opposed” to New Zealand’s support for Taiwan.
In his calls to Europe, Wang also said that cooperation between Beijing and 17 central and eastern European nations – under the “17+1” banner – would not be affected by the health crisis and that further talks would be held once it had been brought under control.
Source: SCMP
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02/04/2020
- 36-hour exercise simulates countering enemy planes during wartime, report says
- People’s Liberation Army placing increasing emphasis on airborne early-warning and control aircraft, observers say
The Eastern Theatre Command’s latest exercise follows joint air and naval drills near Taiwan in February. Photo: Handout
The Chinese military command responsible for patrols around
Taiwan stepped up its drills by staging a long-endurance early-warning exercise in March, the official
PLA Daily reported on Wednesday.
A warplane conducted tactical acrobatics, which were not specified, immediately after taking off, the report said. The move had not been common during previous drills, and was intended to simulate quickly countering enemy planes during wartime, the report quoted the plane’s captain Liu Yin as saying.
The plane performed reconnaissance, early-warning and surveillance work, tested airborne strikes, and an unspecified number of fighter jets in two groups staged a confrontation in a combat scenario.
The drill lasted for about 36 hours, the report said.
Taiwan shows off its military power after presidential election
Zi Kun, an officer from the division’s training unit, said the drill was a test for both pilots and equipment because it involved planning and coordination to meet actual combat requirements.
The exercise came after the Eastern Theatre Command in early February launched joint drills featuring naval and air forces near Taiwan and a combat-readiness drill in which its warplanes encircled the self-ruled island.
It also came after the United States sent EP-3E Aries electronic warfare and reconnaissance aircraft to fly near Kaohsiung, in southern Taiwan, and Hong Kong in late March.
Beijing may step up drills in South China Sea amid US military tensions
Beijing views the self-governed Taiwan as a renegade province that must be united with mainland China by force if necessary.
Experts said the drill was designed to enhance China’s intelligence-gathering capabilities to better monitor activities at sea and in the air.
Taiwan’s re-elected president Tsai Ing-wen meets US and Japanese envoys to call for closer ties
“The People’s Liberation Army’s Air Force used to rely only on ground-based early-warning radar. Only in the past two decades, it started to acquire airborne early-warning and control aircraft, which could allow the air force to extend their radar coverage beyond the limits of ground-based radars,” said Collin Koh, a research fellow from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.
“The problem with ground-based radars is they are often limited by line of sight and Earth curvature, whereas the airborne early-warning assets can help to address these radar gaps and also have a better ability to pick up low-flying targets and those obscured by terrain,” Koh said.
Taiwan military stages exercise to fight off mock invasion
Zhou Chenming, a Beijing-based military expert, said that China did not have enough early-warning planes to support its expanding military ambitions and needed to maximise its capabilities through various exercises to act as a credible deterrent.
The command’s ongoing drills in recent months would be intended to send signals to the outside world on two fronts, according to Koh.
“The Eastern Theatre Command’s primary area of responsibility would cover Taiwan. And by extension, it also means targeting US forces concentrated not just in the nearby bases in Japan but also further afield beyond the First Island Chain, especially Guam,” he said.
Source: SCMP
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01/04/2020
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Anger at being confused with China amid the coronavirus outbreak and Beijing’s stepped-up efforts to assert sovereignty is stirring heated debate in Taiwan about how to further distance itself from its giant and often threatening neighbour
At its core is a debate about whether to drop “China” from the island’s official name, the Republic of China.
During the virus crisis, the World Health Organization (WHO), which considers the island part of China, has listed Taiwan’s far lower case number under China’s, and China has repeatedly insisted only it has the right to speak for Taiwan on the global stage, including about health issues.
Taipei says this has confused countries and led them to impose the same restrictions on Taiwanese travellers as on Chinese, and has minimised Taiwan’s own successful efforts to control the virus.
Taiwan has been debating for years who it is and what exactly its relationship should be with China – including the island’s name. But the pandemic has shot the issue back into the spotlight.
Lin I-chin, a legislator for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said in parliament last month that Taiwan should change its English name to “Republic of Chunghwa”, an English rendering of the word Taiwan uses for China in its name.
“Taiwan has been brought to grief by China,” she said.
On Sunday, the New Power Party, one of Taiwan’s smaller opposition groups, released the results of a survey in which almost three-quarters of respondents said Taiwan passports should only have the word “Taiwan” on them, removing any reference to China.
“During this epidemic period, our people have been misunderstood by other countries, highlighting the urgency of changing the English name,” it said in a statement.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry has given a cautious response to the passport idea, noting that according to the constitution, the official name is Republic of China and that the word Taiwan was already added to passport covers in 2003.
“In the future, if there is consensus between the ruling and opposition parties on this new name, the Foreign Ministry shall cooperate in handling it,” spokeswoman Joanne Ou said.
But the government is wary of a name change for Taiwan, saying there is no consensus for such a radical move.
Although the DPP supports the island’s independence – theoretically meaning the official formation of a Republic of Taiwan – President Tsai Ing-wen says there is no need to do so, as the island is already an independent country called the Republic of China. She often refers to the island as the Republic of China, Taiwan.
‘REPUBLIC OF TAIWAN’
Premier Su Tseng-chang has said changing the island’s name isn’t the most urgent issue facing Taiwan.
“If we want to change then it might as well be to ‘Republic of Taiwan’. Taiwan is more well known,” Su said in parliament. “But if there’s no national consensus, a name change isn’t the most important thing for now.”
Taiwan’s official name is a throwback to when the Kuomintang party fled to the island after losing the Chinese civil war to the Communists in 1949, and continued to claim to be China’s legitimate government.
“The Republic of China is a country, Taiwan is not,” Chen Yu-jen, a Kuomintang legislator from the island of Kinmen, which sits just offshore from the Chinese city of Xiamen, told parliament on Monday.
The statement drew a sharp rebuke from Su, who told reporters it meant Chen had no right to be a member of the legislature. Chen said she was simply stating the facts, and that Taiwan is a geographic name, not a national name.
China’s pressure on Taiwan diplomatically and militarily during the virus crisis has also reduced Beijing’s already low standing in the eyes of many Taiwanese.
A March poll commissioned by Taiwan’s China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council and carried out by Taipei’s National Chengchi University showed more than three-quarters of respondents believed China’s government was unfriendly to Taiwan’s, the highest level in a decade.
Any name change would infuriate China, which has a law mandating the use of force to stop Taiwan independence.
Source: Reuters
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25/03/2020
- Large-scale drills conducted across island in what defence ministry describes as test of combat-readiness
- Exercise follows US Navy live-fire exercise last month and a series of incursions by Chinese warplanes in recent weeks
An F-16 fighter takes off from Hualien air base in eastern Taiwan. Photo: Military News Agency/ AFP
Taiwan has staged large-scale military drills throughout the island, including an exercise to repel an invading force, against a backdrop of rising tensions with Beijing.
The exercises, dubbed “Lien Hsiang,” involved the air force, army and the navy and were conducted on Tuesday from various military bases and strongholds in Taiwan, the island’s defence ministry said in a statement.
“The drills were designed to test the combat readiness of our forces and their responses to an all-out invasion by the enemy,” the ministry said, referring to the People’s Liberation Army, which has threatened to attack the self-ruled island.
The exercise follows a live-fire US drill in the region last week.
Taipei says Chinese military aircraft flew night exercise across Taiwan Strait
Eight F-16 fighter jets took off from the air force base in the eastern county of Hualien at dawn on Tuesday, simulating an emergency mission to scramble and intercept enemy warplanes entering the island’s airspace, the defence ministry said.
Elsewhere on the island, F-16 and other fighter jets were spotted taking off from other air force bases in the southwestern county of Chiayi, the northern county of Hsinchu, Ching Chuan Kang in central Taiwan and the southern city of Tainan, according to Taiwanese media.
The exercises also involved operations testing cyberwarfare capabilities, while the air force ground crew simulated an emergency repair of the aircraft runway, the ministry said.
Anti-air units of both the army and the navy also joined the air force in the drills, while various types of naval warships, including Kidd-class destroyers, plus Perry and Kang Ding-class frigates, were deployed near Taiwan’s coast for separated training drills, it added.
The ministry said the training mission, carried out without live ammunition, was also designed to test the military response and make improvements based on the results.
Hundreds of Taiwanese to return from coronavirus centre after Beijing and Taipei reach deal
Beijing considers Taiwan a wayward province that must be returned to the mainland fold, by force if necessary.
Beijing has staged a series of war games close to the island and poached seven of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to heap pressure on President Tsai Ing-wen, from the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, who was re-elected in January.
The exercises came after recent missions by PLA warplanes which briefly crossed the midpoint of the Taiwan Strait into the Taiwanese side in what analysts saw as testing the response from Taiwan and the US.
Three separate groups of warplanes approached Taiwan on their way to the western Pacific over the Bashi Channel for long-distance training exercises before returning home over the Miyako Strait to the northeast of Taiwan on February 9, 10 and 28.
Coronavirus threat shows ‘unacceptability’ of Beijing isolating Taiwan, US official says
On March 17, another flight of PLA warplanes approached Taiwan in a rare exercise which analysts said was aimed at showing off their night navigation and all-weather capabilities.
Taiwan’s air force scrambled fighter jets to shadow, intercept and disperse the PLA warplanes through radio warnings during each approach by the mainland’s planes, according to the ministry.
Those actions also prompted the US to send two B-52 bombers on southbound flights off Taiwan’s east coast, while a transport plane flew over the Taiwan Strait, the defence ministry said.
On Tuesday, the US Navy’s 7th Fleet also revealed that the US Navy had carried out live-fire missile tests in the Philippine Sea last week, in what analysts said was a message that it was up to the challenge of the Chinese military’s new systems.
DPP legislator Wang Ting-yu asked the Tsai government to take note of developments in the South China Sea, saying the US actions indicated that Washington must have learned “certain information suggesting that the Chinese government is planning certain military activities” or the 7th Fleet would not have made such a bold move.
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28/12/2019
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s largely rubber stamp parliament revised a law on Saturday to simplify investment procedures for Taiwan companies, in another attempt by Beijing to show goodwill to the Chinese-claimed island ahead of elections there on Jan. 11.
China, with its 1.3 billion people, is Taiwan’s favourite investment destination with Taiwan companies investing more than $100 billion there since China began landmark economic reforms in the late 1970s, drawn by a common culture and low costs.
China has extended what it views as olive branches to Taiwan in the run-up to the election, including opening further sectors to Taiwanese investors, with the ultimate goal of enticing the island to accept Beijing’s control.
Taiwan’s government has warned against falling for China’s inducements and has called on China instead to grant its own people democracy and freedom of speech. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.
The revised law removes several layers of bureaucracy to simplify procedures for investment from Taiwan, with the aim of encouraging more of it.
Chinese commerce ministry official Jiang Chenghua told reporters the central government “paid great attention” to protecting and encouraging Taiwan investment and it had support from the highest levels, including President Xi Jinping.
“Although the revised clauses are not many, they are of great significance and are conducive to optimising the investment environment for Taiwan compatriots in the mainland and to further expand economic and trade exchanges and cooperation between the two sides,” Jiang added.
The revision is designed to dovetail with a new foreign investor law which comes into force on Jan. 1. Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said this week he wanted “our Taiwan compatriots to share the benefit of this great change”.
Taiwan says China has been stepping up its efforts to sway electors and is planning an anti-infiltration law to counter Chinese influence efforts, which could pass next week.
Next month’s elections pit President Tsai Ing-wen of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party against Han Kuo-yu of the main opposition party the Kuomintang, which favours close ties with China.
China is Taiwan’s top trading partner, with trade totalling $226 billion in 2018. Taiwan runs a large trade surplus with China.
Taiwan has been trying to wean itself off its reliance on China and to encourage Taiwan companies to come back home or to shift their investments to other parts of the world, notably Southeast Asia.
Taiwan’s economy has benefited from its firms moving manufacturing back to the island to escape higher tariffs from the China-U.S. trade war, though the dispute has also caused some disruption for Taiwan’s economy.
Source: Reuters
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17/12/2019
- Centre could make Taiwan more self-sufficient in its defence capability
- Latest arms deal is further evidence of closer relations under presidencies of US’ Donald Trump and Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen
A Taiwanese F-16V takes off during a drill in May. Photo: EPA-EFE
has further bolstered its defence links with the United States with plans to build an F-16 fighter jet maintenance centre, as the Taipei government continues to resist Beijing’s objective of unification.
The self-ruled island’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) and US defence contractor Lockheed Martin signed a strategic partnership agreement on Tuesday that aimed to promote the establishment of an F-16 fighter jet maintenance centre in Taiwan, to be completed by 2023.
It is the latest of several significant agreements with the US during Donald Trump’s presidency. Trump approved a US$2.2 billion arms sale on July 8 that included 108 American-made M1A2T Abrams tanks and 250 Stinger missiles.
He was quicker to approve F-16 sales than his predecessors, agreeing in August to sell the island 66 F-16V jets, which will mean Taiwan owns the most F-16s in the Asia-Pacific region.
Trump also approved, in September last year, a US$330 million deal to provide spare parts and other logistics for several types of the island’s military aircraft – less than a year after the US agreed to sell US$1.4 billion of missiles, torpedoes and an early warning system to Taiwan.
Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province to be reunited with the mainland by force if necessary.
‘Fighter jets trump battle tanks’ in Taiwan’s US arms priorities
Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies with Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said the planned maintenance centre underlined how Taiwan-US military ties had become stronger under the more enthusiastic US administration of Trump and the Taiwanese presidency of
.
“The [F-16 fighter jet maintenance] centre, by improving the availability and readiness of the F-16 fleet, allows Taiwan to sustain its combat aviation, not only for daily operation but also for training,” Koh said.
“This does represent a step up. Taiwan is no longer just an end-user operating the American hardware, but will also be empowered to service it. It is designed to help Taiwan achieve better defence self-sufficiency, one of the key pledges by the Tsai administration.”
Tang Shaocheng, a senior researcher in international relations at Taiwan’s National Cheng-chi University, said the increasingly close relations between Taipei and Washington made dealing with the island more tricky for Beijing.
Beijing ‘interferes daily’ in Taiwan’s election, says Tsai Ing-wen
“The Tsai administration cares about what the US thinks but not what Beijing thinks, paving the way for ever-closer ties,” Tang said. “That definitely leaves less room for Beijing to get Taipei into its orbit, by using various economic measures.”
Beijing has suspended exchanges with Taipei and staged a series of war games around Taiwan to intimidate the island since Tsai, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, became president in 2016 and refused to accept its one-China policy.
Beijing has also tried to isolate Taiwan internationally by poaching its
diplomatic allies
since Tsai took office, has repeatedly warned Washington against seeking closer military ties with Taipei, and has protested against every arms deal the two have made.
The US acknowledges the Chinese claim that it has sovereignty over Taiwan, which split from the mainland in 1949 and is self-governing. However, the US regards the status of Taiwan as unsettled and supports the island with arms sales and other measures, such as by sending warships through the Taiwan Strait that separates the island from China.
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11/11/2019
- Mainland social media users come out in strong support for the officer, compounding extensive coverage of vandalism of businesses with ties across the border
Hong Kong’s police force has gained support from online commenters on the mainland. Photo: Nora Tam
As Monday morning’s
police shooting of a protester triggered a wave of shock and outrage in Hong Kong, across the border in mainland China, the response online was just as swift – but in support of the force.
“Support Hong Kong police opening fire! Clean up Hong Kong’s cockroaches!” one popular financial blogger on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, said as he shared footage of the incident.
In the video, an officer grapples with a protester and points his gun towards another approaching protester. The second protester reaches out towards the gun, the officer dodges, steps back and shoots him in the torso.
“It feels great [to watch]! Kill them all, these trash and tumours of society,” a Weibo user replied to the video, with a thumbs-up emoji.
“Hongkong’s loser youth, [police] should totally open fire!! It would be best to shoot them in the head,” another post read.
These comments, and many others like them flooding social media in mainland China, highlight the deep divisions in views on each side of the border as Hong Kong’s political crisis drags into its sixth month.
Despite some initial sympathy, mainland public sentiment towards Hong Kong has hardened since July, amid state propaganda painting the protesters as a separatist movement plotted by “Western black hands”.
In recent weeks, the rancour from the mainland has only appeared to deepen, with photos and videos of protesters vandalising businesses with ties to the mainland spreading online.
Last month, a mainland Chinese banker was assaulted in a confrontation with protesters during his lunch break in Central, drawing the wrath of many mainlanders and renewed online calls for military intervention.
Extensive media coverage of the vandalism and attack, as well as a series of inflammatory commentaries, have further fanned the anger.
On Monday, the social media account of state-run Beijing Daily ran the story of the shooting under the headline: “This morning, a gunshot in Hong Kong, to the applause of citizens!”
“At such a critical moment, the police officer acted so bravely and restrained,” the report said.
“After the police fired the shot and subdued the rioters, some citizens at the scene directly applauded the police. The reaction of the public directly shows that the officer fired not only in a legal and reasonable way, but also in line with the will of the people.”
In the video, a man in a dark blue jumper claps his hands at a nearby traffic light, as police officers pin the protesters to the ground.
The Beijing Daily report did not refer to angry bystanders condemning the officers as “murderers”.
Hong Kong police officer who shot protester receives death threats against children after personal details released online, force says
Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of nationalist tabloid Global Times, and a regular – and hugely popular – commentator on Hong Kong’s unrest, also weighed in.
“As a media worker, I resolutely support this Hong Kong police officer gunning down the attacking rioters,” he wrote to his 2 million fans on Weibo in a post that included video of the shooting.
Hu accused Hong Kong and Western media of “focusing their coverage on the police shooting and diluting the illegal, criminal and evil deeds of the rioters”.
“Such guiding of public opinion is disgusting,” he wrote.
Hu ended his post with a message to Hong Kong police: “Don’t you be afraid of anything, resolutely defend Hong Kong’s law and order, be strong and be tough. You’re not alone on the front lines. Behind you there are not only the [patriotic] Hong Kong public and the nation, but also the country’s paramilitary police and the People’s Liberation Army Hong Kong garrison, who can enter Hong Kong and offer support in accordance with the Basic Law when needed.”
The post was liked more than 26,000 times in six hours.
Scores of Chinese students flee Hong Kong over fears they will be attacked as anti-mainland sentiment sweeps through protesters in city
Meanwhile, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen called on the Hong Kong government to give a detailed response to the Hong Kong people’s calls for democracy and freedom, which she described as “the only path to return to stability and order”.
“Governments should not fire upon unarmed people, this will only exacerbate the problem,” she wrote on her official Facebook account. “Beijing and the Hong Kong government should respond to the Hong Kong people, not with bullets but with the promise of democracy and freedom.”
Taipei’s Mainland Affairs Council, which oversees the island’s policies on Beijing, called on all sides to give up their arms and aggressive actions to make way for peaceful conversation.
Source: SCMP
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28/05/2019
- Coordination Council for North American Affairs becomes Taiwan Council for US Affairs, island’s foreign ministry says
- Move signifies ‘firm and close relationship between Taiwan and the US’, President Tsai Ing-wen says
Taiwan has changed the name of its de facto embassy in the United States to better reflect ever-improving ties between the sides. Photo: EPA
Taiwan has changed the name of its de facto embassy in the United States to better reflect relations between the sides, which are at their strongest in decades, Taipei said on Saturday.
Once the necessary formalities have been completed, the agency formerly known as the Coordination Council for North American Affairs will be called the Taiwan Council for US Affairs, the island’s foreign ministry said.
“The new name better reflects the [agency’s] role in coordinating US-Taiwan affairs. It also symbolises the close and amicable relations between Taiwan and the United States,” it said.
Observers said the name change was significant as it appeared to drop the pretence that the council was non-diplomatic or political in nature.
The name change was possible because of the consensus between Taiwan and the US. Photo: CNA
Although Washington severed formal diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1979 in favour of Beijing, the two sides retained unofficial relations that have grown ever-closer in recent years, including an increase in military exchanges and cooperation.
“The new name [was made possible] as a result of the consensus between Taiwan and the US,” the island’s President Tsai Ing-wen said in a Facebook post. “This is the first time the designations ‘Taiwan and the US’ have been used to refer to each other’s affairs office on an equal basis, signifying the firm and close relationship.”
Taiwan begins mass production of missile corvettes, minelayers
Taiwan had been forced to use the old title because of the “special historical background” related to the change in diplomatic allegiance 40 years ago, Tsai said.
Beijing, which considers Taiwan a wayward province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, has demanded that Washington observe the one-China policy by not officially recognising Taiwan or allowing it to use either “Republic of China” – the island’s official name – or “Taiwan” in the title of its representative offices in the US.
Washington also enacted the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979 to prescribes relations with the island and includes a commitment to supply it with arms to protect itself.
“After continuous efforts and coordination by the two sides, and in 2019, the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, our office handling relations with the US is finally able to change its name,” Tsai said.
The American Institute in Taiwan relocated to a larger, purpose-built compound last month. Photo: Bloomberg
Presidential spokesman Alex Huang said the name change was due mainly to an improvement in relations between Taiwan and the US as a result of a greater cooperation on the promotion of regional peace and the Indo-Pacific security agenda.
“In the past few years, the US government has given Taiwan strong and firm support in terms of national security and participation in international events, as well as support from Congress and think tanks,” he said, referring to bills signed by US President Donald Trump that allow for exchanges between high-level officials and military personnel, and the approval of new sales of arms and logistical support to the island.
US official urges Pacific island nations to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan
Also, last week, Taiwan’s national security chief David Lee met US National Security Adviser John Bolton in Washington for the first talks of their kind since 1979, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported on Saturday.
Last month, the American Institute in Taiwan – the United States’ unofficial embassy in Taipei – relocated to a significantly larger, purpose-built compound, in yet another sign of improving relations.
US support for Taiwan has increased under Trump’s leadership as he regards Beijing as a hostile competitor, not only on trade, but also in military and global influence terms.
Tensions between Taipei and Beijing have flared since Tsai became president in 2016 and refused to accept the one-China principle. The mainland subsequently halted all official exchanges with the island and embarked on a campaign to squeeze its diplomatic allies around the world.
Source: SCMP
Posted in American Institute in Taiwan, ‘reflect stronger ties’, Beijing, changes name, Congress, cooperation, Coordination Council for North American Affairs, de facto embassy, Foreign Ministry, Indo-Pacific security agenda, John Bolton, mass production, military exchanges, minelayers, missile corvettes, one-China policy, Pacific island nations, President Tsai Ing-wen, Republic of China, reunification, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwan Council for US Affairs, Taiwan Relations Act, think tanks, Uncategorized, United States, US National Security Adviser, US President Donald Trump, Washington, wayward province |
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28/05/2019
- President Tsai Ing-wen says Taipei should ‘maintain a high degree of vigilance’
- Exercise simulates response to attack from mainland on military bases
President Tsai Ing-wen and senior Taiwanese military staff during an exercise in southern county Changhua, not far from one of the island’s main airbases at Taichung. Photo: Facebook
Taiwanese warplanes landed on a highway on Tuesday as part of annual exercises designed to test the island’s military capabilities and resolve to repel an attack from the mainland across the Taiwan Strait.
President Tsai Ing-wen watched the exercise in the southern county of Changhua, not far from one of Taiwan’s main airbases at Taichung.
“Our national security has faced multiple challenges,” Tsai said. “Whether it is the Chinese Communist Party’s [People’s Liberation Army] long-distance training or its fighter jets circling Taiwan, it has posed a certain degree of threat to regional peace and stability.
“We should maintain a high degree of vigilance,” she said.
Taiwanese warplanes are parked on a highway during an exercise to simulate a response to a mainland attack on its airfields in Changhua. Photo: AP
Aircraft involved in the exercise included US-made F-16 Fighting Falcons, French Mirage 2000s, Taiwan-made IDF fighter jets and US-built Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye surveillance aircraft.
Ground crews practised refuelling and ammunition replenishment before the aircraft returned to the air. About 1,600 service personnel were mobilised in Tuesday’s exercise.
The event marked the exercise debut of the first F-16 upgraded to the V variant, featuring advanced radar and combat capabilities. Taiwan is spending about US$4.21 billion to upgrade 144 F-16As and Bs to the F-16V version.
Rare meeting between Taiwanese, US security officials angers Beijing
Taiwan buys military hardware mainly from the US and has asked to purchase new F-16V fighters and M1 Abrams tanks.
American arms sales to Taiwan have long been a thorn in the side of US relations with China, routinely drawing protests from Beijing that Washington had reneged on commitments.
Beijing has also been angered by warming relations between Taipei and Washington since Tsai came to power in 2016.
On Monday, Beijing reacted frostily to photos showing a rare meeting between uniformed Taiwanese officers and their US counterparts this month.
A Mirage 2000-5 fighter jet takes off from a highway during an emergency take-off and landing drill in Changhua, Taiwan. Photo: EPA
Last week, Beijing lodged a protest with Washington after two US warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan expected to be outgunned in terms of troop numbers and firepower in any war with mainland China but it claimed to have had developed sophisticated asymmetric warfare tactics to make any invasion costly for Beijing.
“There are only a few military airbases which would become the prime targets in the event of an attack. The highway drill is necessary as highway strips would be our priority choice if the runways were damaged during a war,” air force Colonel Shu Kuo-mao.
Taiwan changes name of de facto embassy in United States to ‘reflect stronger ties’
Taiwan’s Central News Agency said highway take-off and landing drills last took place in 2014. A military source told CNA that Tuesday’s drill was not much different from those conducted by the military during the Han Kuang exercises, but it was still challenging.
Among the challenges were that the drill could not be rehearsed and it required clear communications between the military, police and the National Freeway Bureau, said the source.
Source: SCMP
Posted in air force, Beijing, Central News Agency, Changhua, chinese communist party, Colonel Shu Kuo-mao, Han Kuang exercises, Highway, lands, mainland, military airbases, military bases, Military exercise, National Freeway Bureau, People’s Liberation Army, President Tsai Ing-wen, Taichung, Taipei, Taiwan, Taiwan Strait, Uncategorized, US warships, vigilance, warplanes, Washington |
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