China yesterday warned against continued Taiwan-US cooperation, responding to reports that the US military was sending officers to help train Taiwanese counterparts and that a delegation of defense contractors would be visiting the nation next week.
“We resolutely oppose the US having any form of official or military contact with China’s Taiwan region,” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) told a weekly news briefing in Beijing.
Taiwan has never been part of the People’s Republic of China, but the Chinese Communist Party says it is obliged to unite with China, by force if necessary.
Photo: CNA
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government has flown fighter jets and bombers near Taiwan in increasing numbers, and fired missiles into the sea in an attempt to intimidate the nation.
Taiwanese media reported this month that the US had sent 200 military personnel, mostly marines, to help train Taiwanese troops.
The Ministry of National Defense has neither denied nor confirmed the report.
Meanwhile, a delegation of about 25 defense contractors is visiting the nation next week, hosted by the US-Taiwan Business Council.
Nikkei Asia reported that the weapons manufacturers would discuss joint production of drones and ammunition in Taiwan.
“US defense contractors intentionally provoke confrontation between the two sides, taking the opportunity to make a profit,” Zhu said.
She accused the Democratic Progressive Party, which has been in power for six years, of colluding with the US to press for formal Taiwanese independence.
The US does not formally recognize the Taiwanese government, but is Taipei’s most vital provider of weapons and other security assistance, as well as political support.
China has turned up the heat by sending fighter jets and navy vessels near the nation on a near-daily basis, especially in response to political meetings between Taiwan and the US.
Earlier this month, China held large-scale military exercises simulating a strike on key targets in Taiwan in response to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS