Taiwan yesterday joined the US in expressing “deep concerns” over a security pact sealed a day earlier between China and Taipei’s former diplomatic ally the Solomon Islands, a move that many fear could open the door to a Chinese naval base in the South Pacific.
“We share the same stance [as] our democratic allies in expressing concerns over the lack of transparency in a deal that could destabilize regional peace and security,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.
The deal could also threaten a “supply chain between diplomatic countries,” she said, referring to some experts’ concerns that Beijing’s establishment of bases across the Pacific could threaten US supply lines in the event of war.
Photo: Screengrab from Learn & Study in Taiwan website
She called on the Solomon Islands not to become a “bargaining chip” or assist Beijing in expanding its military presence in the Pacific region.
“Taiwan will continue to work together with like-minded nations to maintain peace, stability and a rules-based international order in surrounding regions,” she added.
The Solomon Islands had been Taiwan’s diplomatic ally since 1983. The two countries cut diplomatic relations in September 2019 after Honiara announced it would ditch Taipei in favor of Beijing.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文彬) announced the signing of the security agreement in Beijing on Tuesday evening, saying it would involve China cooperating with Honiara on maintaining social order, protecting people, providing aid, combating natural disasters and safeguarding national security.
However, the US has said that the pact could lead to a Chinese military presence in the Solomon Islands, and Australia and New Zealand are wary of China’s growing influence in a region traditionally under their sway.
The US Department of State on Monday said that the pact “leaves open the door for the deployment of PRC [People’s Republic of China] military forces to the Solomon Islands” and sets a “concerning precedent for the wider Pacific island region.”
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS