A group of French lawmakers landed in Taiwan yesterday, the first high-level European delegation since China conducted huge war drills in the wake of a visit to the nation by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The trip came as Taiwan held two days of live-fire drills in Pingtung County.
Beijing has lashed out at any diplomatic action that might lend Taiwan legitimacy, and has responded with growing anger to visits by Western officials and politicians.
Photo: CNA
The group of five lawmakers is led by French Senator Cyril Pellevat, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, adding that it was the fourth visit by French politicians in the past 12 months.
Last month, China sent warships, missiles and fighter jets into the waters and skies around Taiwan in a show of opposition to Pelosi’s presence — its largest and most aggressive exercises since the mid-1990s.
Pelosi, a veteran Beijing critic, was the most senior US politician to visit Taiwan in 25 years. She was followed by multiple separate US delegations last month.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
China’s exercises triggered widespread support in the US for solidarity with Taiwan, which already has rare bipartisan support on Capitol Hill.
Many European powers have also grown more vocal in support of Taiwan in the past few years, while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has deepened fears that China might do the same to Taiwan.
Politicians from European countries regularly visit the nation.
Beijing has adopted an increasingly bellicose approach to Taiwan under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the country’s most authoritarian leader in a generation.
Xi, who is on the cusp of securing an unprecedented third term, has hitched Taiwan’s fate to his landmark “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” policy.
Like most nations, the US and France officially recognize Beijing over Taipei, but they remain key allies of Taiwan and maintain de facto diplomatic ties with the nation.
Washington’s official policy opposes Taiwan declaring independence and China forcibly changing the Taiwan’s status.
On Tuesday, Taiwanese troops carried out dramatic nighttime live-fire drills, with tanks illuminated by sudden flashes of flame as they fired shells while tracer rounds arced across the night sky.
“We will prepare for war, but will not seek war,” Huang Jing-feng, a battalion commander, told reporters. “We will carry on training to elevate each soldier’s combat skills.”
The drills continued yesterday, with tanks, combat helicopters and mobile missile launchers conducting firing exercises.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra