Taiwan terminated its 42-year-long diplomatic relations with Malawi after the southeastern African country agreed to switch its allegiance to Beijing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced at an emergency press conference at 6:30pm yesterday, two hours after Lilongwe notified Taipei of its intentions.
"In order to safeguard Taiwan's national dignity, we hereby announce the Republic of China government will immediately cease all diplomatic ties with the government of Malawi," MOFA Deputy Minister Yang Tzu-pao (
Yang urged Malawi to follow international protocol by ensuring the safety of Taiwanese nationals who reside or do business in Malawi despite the end of formal diplomatic relations.
All non-governmental relations should also continue, Yang said.
The Chinese foreign ministry had yet to post the news on its Web site.
Taipei berated Malawi for announcing its decision while Minister James Huang (
MOFA called the untimely break-up the "greatest insult" to the people of Taiwan and said that Lilongwe had failed to behave as a democratic country.
Yesterday's move left Taiwan with only 23 allies.
Malawi was the fourth country to break relations with Taiwan since 2006 after Senegal, Chad and Costa Rica. There has been speculation that the Marshall Islands and Guatemala could soon follow suit.
Yang called on Taiwan's remaining allies -- especially the four in Africa -- to "stay strong and not be persuaded by Beijing's temptations."
"Taiwan offers utmost sincere friendship to its allies. [Unlike China], Taiwan has no ambition of colonizing or abusing the people of its friendly nations. All relations between Taiwan and its allies are based on an equal footing that is mutually beneficial to both sides," he said.
Lilongwe had been ambiguous about its warming relations with China since before Christmas, when the Nyasa Times reported the imminent break-up.
It was reported that several high ranking Malawian officials had signed a memorandum of understanding with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing two months earlier, binding Malawi to the so-called "one-China" principle.
During a press conference last month, Huang confirmed that China had offered a US$6 billion financial package to lure Lilongwe. He urged Malawi to analyze its options and warned of the broken promises Beijing had made to allies it wooed away from Taiwan.
Yang said the ministry first noticed Beijing's interest in sabotaging Taiwan-Malawian ties at the annual UN assembly in September.
"But since then, we have reassured Malawi of our sincere, unwavering friendship," Yang said.
The break-up became more evident when Malawian President Bingu wa Matharika and foreign minister Joyce Hilda Banda refused to meet Huang earlier this month after he flew to Malawi in a last-ditch effort to salvage relations.
Huang was forced to make a last-minute detour to Swaziland, where he inked a 10-year bilateral cooperation pact with its foreign minister.
Banda said that Lilongwe had had to turn down Huang's visit because the government was on break for a national holiday.
Yang said that all diplomatic affairs -- including all Taiwan sponsored humanitarian aid and projects -- would cease immediately.
MOFA spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) criticized Beijing for humiliating Taiwan and suppressing its international presence.
"They are rubbing salt in the wound," he said. "They deliberately pick a time when President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is meeting Guatemalan president-elect Alvaro Colom to reaffirm diplomatic ties. I suspect Beijing will continue to use the same approach to poach our diplomatic allies."
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) issued a statement last night condemning China for its "unreasonable" and "unwise" oppression of Taiwan.
Ma said in the statement that China must recognize the existence of the Republic of China (ROC) if both sides of the Taiwan Strait are to get along.
He said China's efforts to restrict Taiwan's presence on the world stage would sabotage cross-strait peace and promote ill feeling among Taiwanese.
Ma also criticized the government, saying that only a "dignified, pragmatic and flexible" approach would benefit the nation.
Ma said both sides of the strait should avoid confrontation.
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling, Flora Wang and staff writer
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
RSS