The talks Taipei has had with Manila regarding the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 incident and related issues were “a matter between the Republic of China (ROC) and the Philippines,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Anna Kao (高安) said yesterday. Kao said the ROC does not accept the “one China” policy being applied to talks conducted between the ROC and the Philippines because they “have nothing to do with ‘one China.’”
She made the remarks when asked about a statement the Chinese embassy in Manila made on Tuesday to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which the newspaper reported yesterday, that governments should defer to Beijing’s “one China” policy.
Kao said that the ministry was still looking into the authenticity of the statement.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer said the Chinese embassy made the statement when asked by the newspaper to comment on the start of Manila and Taipei’s fishery talks.
“The Chinese government has no objection to the non-governmental economic and cultural contacts between Taiwan and foreign countries that have diplomatic relations with China, but we oppose foreign countries and Taiwan having official exchanges or signing agreements with sovereign and official implications,” Chinese embassy spokesperson Zhang Hua (張華) said.
“We have always required and hoped that the countries that have established diplomatic relations with China abide by their commitments to adhere to the ‘one China’ policy,” Zhang said, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Officials from Taipei and Manila reached a consensus at a meeting last week on four points on dealing with fishing disputes in overlapping waters to prevent a repeat of the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 incident in which Philippine Coast Guard personnel shot at the Taiwanese boat, killing fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成).
Included in the consensus was a pledge to refrain from the use of force or violence against fishermen from the other side when handling fishing disputes in overlapping waters and to continue discussions on signing a provisional arrangement on fishing rights in the area.
Both sides have decided to hold another meeting early next month on related issues.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
RSS