China seems to have relented in its ongoing diplomatic campaign to pressure Taiwan in the international arena, as fewer examples of such behavior were reported to the foreign ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
“In the first half of the year, there were relatively fewer examples of China’s suppression of Taiwan,” MOFA spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said after the ministry updated its Web page listing China’s latest attempts to denigrate Taiwan in the international arena.
The ministry updates the site every three months to inform the public of incidents in which Beijing undermines Taiwan’s participation in international political, economic, trade, athletic or cultural events.
It remains unclear, however, if the trend is related to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) election on March 22 and the “modus vivendi” diplomatic strategy he put in place after being inaugurated on May 20.
Ma has described his “modus vivendi” approach as a pragmatic diplomatic strategy to gain more international space for Taiwan. It aims to safeguard Taiwan’s rights while consolidating diplomatic relations with allies and restoring mutual trust with countries that influence Taiwan even in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
Ma also proposed a “diplomatic truce” aimed at ending the longstanding diplomatic tug-of-war with China in which both countries try to lure each other’s allies to switch diplomatic allegiance by offering them large sums of money in foreign aid.
The MOFA Web site said that among the incidents in which China exerted pressure on Taiwan was when Beijing reasserted its claim of sovereignty over Taiwan and the Diaoyutai (釣魚台) islands after a Taiwanese recreational boat collided with a Japanese patrol vessel and sank near the islands on June 10.
After the incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang (秦剛) referred to the Taiwanese vessel as a “Taiwan, China” fishing boat and reiterated that the Diaoyutais are Chinese territory. Qin also demanded that the Japanese Coast Guard end any illegal encroachment into Chinese territorial waters.
In another attempt to suppress Taiwan’s international presence, China on May 20 blocked Taiwan’s bid to participate as an observer at the World Health Assembly — WHO’s top decision-making body.
China had also successfully prevented officials of Taiwan’s representative office in Germany from attending a seminar held by Germany’s health department by protesting and threatening to withdraw from the event.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS