The G7 nations should stop inflaming territorial disputes in Asian waters and focus their energy on dealing with a slumping global economy, China said, in response to G7 calls for countries to stop land reclamation and militarization in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
“China is strongly dissatisfied with relevant moves taken by G7,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) said in a statement yesterday. “We urge G7 members to abide by their promise of not taking sides on territorial disputes, respect the efforts by regional countries, stop all irresponsible words and actions, and make constructive contribution to regional peace and stability.”
The G7 should have focused on righting a sluggish global economy “instead of hyping up maritime issues and fueling tensions in the region,” he said.
Lu’s remarks were in response to G7 foreign ministers raising concerns over tensions in the East China and South China seas, where China has been more aggressively asserting its territorial claims under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
China “resolutely upholds its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests” in the waterways, Lu said.
Sino-Japanese tensions have been on the rise over a chain of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, which Taiwan also claim, while China’s bid to control more than 80 percent of the South China Sea overlaps with claims of five other countries, including Taiwan.
The G7 foreign ministers urged “all states to refrain from such actions as land reclamations, including large-scale ones, building outposts, as well as their use for military purposes and to act in accordance with international law, including the principles of freedoms of navigation and overflight,” in a statement released at the close on Monday of a two-day meeting in Hiroshima, Japan.
The statement did not directly mention China, which is a not a G7 member.
None of the five other states claiming territory in the South China Sea participated in the meeting.
An editorial by the Xinhua news agency accused Japan of trying to use the G7 to “contain China” and trying to divert China’s attention from the East China Sea by “interfering in disputes in the South China Sea.”
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
RSS