China poses the greatest threat to Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy and is trying to divide Taiwanese society with covert operatives, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday.
China has never abandoned its ambitions to annex Taiwan, and its regime poses the greatest threats to Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy, Lai said at an event in Taipei commemorating the 228 Incident, a 1947 uprising against the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government.
Beijing has been recruiting operatives in Taiwan — including gang members, television pundits, political party members, and even retired and active military officers — to “sow division” in society and “attempt to subvert Taiwan,” Lai said, without elaborating.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
Lai called on Taiwanese to recognize the nature of authoritarianism so they can better preserve and strengthen Taiwan’s democratic foundation.
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said the history of World War II shows that aggression and expansion will end in failure, responding to remarks made by a Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesperson saying that Taiwan would come into Beijing’s hands sooner or later.
The MND on Wednesday reported that China had designated an area for live-fire drills in international waters about 40 nautical miles (74km) off Kaohsiung and Pingtung County without prior notice.
Asked on Thursday about Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang military exercises this year, China’s defense ministry said Taiwan was “like a mantis trying to stop a chariot” and “sooner or later we will take you back.”
The MND in a statement said that China has been escalating its military threats in the region, destroying the “status quo” of regional stability, and has become the biggest “troublemaker” in the international community.
“This year marks the 80th anniversary of [the end of] World War II, and history has proven that any form of aggression and expansion will end in failure,” it said. “The actions of the communist military in recent years are repeating the mistakes of the invaders and pushing China toward defeat.”
Taiwan’s military is strengthening its forces to safeguard sovereignty, ensure freedom and democracy, and collaborate to maintain security and stability in the region, it added.
Separately, a US Department of State spokesperson on Thursday said that the US is closely monitoring reports of China’s sudden establishment of a live-fire exercise zone near Taiwan.
“China’s continued provocative actions around Taiwan are destabilizing and undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the region,” the spokesperson said in a written statement in response to media queries.
The spokesperson said that the US opposes any unilateral changes to the “status quo” by either side.
“We support cross-strait dialogue, and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to people on both sides of the Strait,” the spokesperson added.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
RSS