The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday declined to confirm media reports that Malawi would cut ties with Taiwan sometime this month, but said the government was exerting all efforts to salvage the 41-year-old friendship and that the Malawian foreign minister had said relations were unchanged.
"So far we have no new developments to report. We [Taiwan] hope Malawi will cherish our utmost and sincere friendship," said ministry spokesperson Pheobe Yeh (
Yeh said Malawian Foreign Minister Joyce Hilda Banda had said on Friday that the ties between the two countries remained solid and the incessant media speculation was meaningless.
Banda was quoted by a Central News Agency (CNA) report as saying that before Malawi reached a decision on changing relations with Taiwan or China, any reports or information about such a decision were pure speculation.
Costa Rican Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno extended similar reassurances last June -- two days before the Central American country cut off six decades of friendship with Taiwan to snuggle up with Beijing.
A Malawian news outlet, Nyasa Times, fingered China as the one that sabotaged the meeting between Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) and Malawian high-ranking officials, including Banda and President Bingu wa Mutharika.
The meeting came to a screeching halt on Thursday when Huang was already en route to Malawi. Ben Mbewe, secretary for Malawi's foreign affairs office, claimed the president was not available to receive Taiwan's envoy because "he was still on vacation" and that the government was not informed in time for Huang's visit.
Huang and his delegation were forced to make a last minute detour to another African ally, Swaziland.
Nyasa Times reported that Minister of Presidential and Parliamentary Affairs Davis Katsonga, who led a delegation to sign a memorandum of understanding with Beijing last month, had a "fruitful and enlightened" meeting with the Chinese officials, a source close to Katsonga said.
CNA reported that Katsonga said he refused to divulge the details of his Beijing trip and that no government could dictate Malawi's right to choose its friends.
Yeh said no one from the Malawian administration had stepped forward to make any official statements about it switching allegiance to China. Yeh added that Nyasa Times has been quoting an anonymous source since the rumor broke out two weeks ago.
However, the ministry does "have an idea" who has been advocating a switchover, Yeh said, adding that the pro-China group has a strong voice within the Malawian Cabinet.
She also confirmed the ministry had credible information that Beijing had offered a US$6 billion financial package to lure Malawi from Taiwan.
At last week's year-end press conference, Huang said that Taiwan would not engage in a dollar diplomacy race with Beijing and urged the nation's allies to think carefully when faced with the choice of "a solid unwavering friend" and a communist country.
The Nyasa Times quoted a Malawian political observer who cautioned Taiwan to tread carefully when negotiating with Mutharika, who ditched his original sponsoring party in 2004 to gain financial backing from Taiwan to launch his Democratic Progressive Party and secure his win.
One Nyasa Times reader called his government "chameleons" and said that forging ties with Beijing only benefits top officials but is detrimental to local shop owners, whose business will plummet once the Chinese inundate the country with their cheap goods.
Other readers applauded the possible switchover, saying the move would sharpen Malawi's competitive edge.
In related news, Huang received a warm reception in Swaziland, where he and his Swazi counterpart, Mathendele Dlamini, signed a 10-year cooperation pact.
Dlamini said Swaziland was grateful for Taiwan's assistance through the years and that under the leadership of King Mswati III, it would never disappoint Taiwan or shirk from supporting its participation in world organizations.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FAN CHENG-HSIANG
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
RSS