China is not putting any pressure on Taiwan’s last diplomatic ally in Africa, the Kingdom of Eswatini, to switch to Beijing, but believes it is just a matter of time before that happens, a senior Chinese diplomat said yesterday.
China has become increasingly vocal about its desire to win away the country, formerly known as Swaziland, from Taiwan, even as the Swazi government has denounced Beijing for playing “mind games” and says it has no desire to ditch Taipei.
Eswatini is to be the only African country not represented at a major summit between China and the continent opening in Beijing next week, where Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is likely to offer new loans and aid for Africa.
Speaking at a news briefing, China’s special envoy for Africa Xu Jinghu (許鏡湖) said the issue of Eswatini and its lack of ties to Beijing was “an important question,” but it was up to them to take the initiative.
“On this issue we won’t exert any pressure. We’ll wait for the time to be right,” Xu said. “I believe this day will come sooner or later.”
Taiwan has formal ties with only 17 nations, many of them small, less-developed nations in Central America and the Pacific, including Belize and Nauru.
Taiwan has vowed to fight China’s “increasingly out of control” behavior after Taipei last month lost another diplomatic ally to Beijing when El Salvador became the third country to switch allegiances to China this year.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has vowed not to bow to Chinese pressure, and Taipei has accused Beijing of offering generous aid and loan packages to lure its allies across, charges China strongly denies.
Cheng Tao (程濤), a former head of the Africa division at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the news briefing that he had been involved in talks with African countries about abandoning Taiwan and recognizing China, and that money requests had come up.
“They said that while we want to establish diplomatic ties with China, we hope China can give us certain support financially,” Cheng said, without naming the nations he had been in talks with. “They were very blunt.”
“We told them [that] establishing ties is a political decision. It’s not a deal,” he added.
China’s hostility to Taiwan has grown since Tsai’s election, as Beijing fears that she wishes to push for formal independence, a red line for China.
Tsai has said she wants to maintain the “status quo,” but will defend Taiwan’s democracy.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
NATURAL INTERRUPTION: As cables deteriorate, core wires snap in progression along the cable, which does not happen if they are hit by an anchor, an official said Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) immediately switched to a microwave backup system to maintain communications between Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) after two undersea cables malfunctioned due to natural deterioration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs told an emergency news conference yesterday morning. Two submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper and the outlying county — the No. 2 and No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cables — were disconnected early yesterday morning and on Wednesday last week respectively, the nation’s largest telecom said. “After receiving the report that the No. 2 cable had failed, the ministry asked Chunghwa Telecom to immediately activate a microwave backup system, with
RSS