Beijing yesterday sanctioned Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and several US institutions, accusing them of abetting “Taiwan separatist activities,” following President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) meetings in the US during stopovers on her trip to Central America.
In response to Tsai’s meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California and her activities in New York during a stopover en route to Belize and Guatemala, Beijing announced sanctions against the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute and the Washington-based Hudson Institute.
McCarthy and Tsai met at the Reagan library in Simi Valley on Wednesday.
Photo from Hsiao Bi-khim’s Facebook page
The Reagan library and the Hudson Institute, which on Thursday last week gave Tsai its Global Leadership Award, were sanctioned for “providing a platform and convenience to Taiwan separatist activities,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Chinese institutions are prohibited from having any cooperation or contact with them, the ministry said.
An e-mail seeking comment from the Reagan foundation was not immediately answered on Thursday.
The ban on Hsiao does not appear to be substantively different from a sanction placed on her when then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August last year.
China at the time announced sanctions on Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials, including Hsiao, banning them, their family members and organizations they are linked to from traveling to or operating in China, including Hong Kong.
Yesterday’s announcement said that financial sponsors of Hsiao are also included.
Hsiao posted a screen grab from the Web site of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) on Twitter, writing: “Wow, the PRC just sanctioned me again, for the second time,” referring to the People’s Republic of China.
The Taipei-based Prospect Foundation and the Philippines-based Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats were sanctioned for involvement in promoting Taiwanese independence “under the guise of academic and research exchanges,” TAO spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) said.
The Prospect Foundation works on dialogue and cooperation on issues related to security, economy and social development. The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats — of which the DPP is a member — is a regional organization established in Thailand that promotes exchanges among liberal and democratic political parties in Asia.
The ministry also sanctioned Sarah Stern, chair of the Hudson Institute’s board of directors, and John Walters, the institute’s director; as well as John Heubusch, former executive director of the Reagan foundation — which manages the library — and Joanne Drake, its chief administrator.
The people are barred from visiting China, and any property or financial assets belonging to sanctioned people or entities in China would be frozen, the ministry said.
“We will take resolute measures to punish the Taiwan independence separatist forces and their actions, and resolutely safeguard our country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the TAO said in a statement.
The Mainland Affairs Council said that it is established practice for presidents of Taiwan to transit in the US on trips to visit diplomatic allies in Central America.
As a sovereign nation, Taiwan has the right to interact with other countries, it said, adding that China has no right to comment.
Meanwhile, China deployed warships and aircraft near Taiwan for a second day yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Three Chinese warships sailed in waters near Taiwan, while a fighter jet and an anti-submarine helicopter also entered the nation’s air defense identification zone, it said.
On Wednesday, China’s Shandong aircraft carrier, one of two in its naval fleet, sailed south of Taiwan on its way to the western Pacific, hours before Tsai met McCarthy.
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday said that defense and security agencies were keeping a close eye on developments, and asked “the public to rest assured.”
Additional reporting by Chung Li-hua and AFP
‘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