GERMANY
Scholz warns China
Chancellor Olaf Scholz yesterday told parliament that he had warned China during talks earlier this week against using force to achieve territorial changes, particularly against Taiwan. Scholz this week hosted a large Chinese delegation led by Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) in the first face-to-face summit since the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time of rising geopolitical tensions between the West and China. “We firmly reject all unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China seas by force or coercion. This is especially true for Taiwan,” Scholz said, according to prepared remarks. “We are also concerned about the human rights situation and the state of the rule of law in China,” he added.
EDUCATION
Bristol students to arrive
Thirty undergraduate students from the University of Bristol are to study Mandarin in Kaohsiung next month as part of the Turing Scheme, marking the first time the British government-funded program has supported Mandarin learning in Taiwan. The group is to arrive on Friday next week and start taking Mandarin courses on weekdays from July 3 to 28. The curriculum is to include windsurfing and maritime education field trips, local cultural experiences and visits to historic sites, the Education Division of Taiwan’s representative office in the UK said. The British government set up the Turing Scheme after dropping out of the EU’s Erasmus program following the UK’s exit from the EU in 2020. The scheme, named after mathematician Alan Turing, funds students of occupational education, college students and pupils from other educational institutes to study in foreign countries and receive professional training. The university said that the scheme would help students gain basic Mandarin skills, immerse themselves in Taiwanese culture and develop intercultural skills.
DIPLOMACY
Resignation approved
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has approved the resignation of Representative to Thailand Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢), the Presidential Office said late on Wednesday, less than a year since he assumed the post in Bangkok. Chuang resigned due to family reasons, a source speaking on condition of anonymity said. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) said Chuang offered his resignation in the middle of this month “over personal reasons,” a decision the ministry respects. Neither the Presidential Office nor them ministry announced a replacement for the envoy. Before assuming the post in Thailand, Chuang served as vice chairman of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council. He previously served as a Cabinet spokesman, a deputy minister of the Overseas Community Affairs Council and a Democratic Progressive Party legislator from 2005 to 2008 when the party was in opposition.
MEDIA
New CNA head announced
Minister Without Portfolio Lee Yung-te (李永得) has been appointed chairman of the Central News Agency (CNA), the Ministry of Culture said on Wednesday. Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲) said Lee would be an ideal leader, as the national news agency prepares to mark its centenary next year. Lee served as culture minister from May 2020 until January, during which he oversaw the launch of TaiwanPlus, the nation’s first English-only video news and programming platform for an international audience.
Staff writer, with agencies
The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said. Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said. The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s
Military photovoltaic projects have been found to have used Chinese-made devices blacklisted by the government, including Huawei Technologies Co routers, the Ministry of National Defense’s Armaments Bureau said on Thursday. An ongoing investigation has identified the illegal use of 128 current transformers, two routers and a data reader at the Hungchailin Army Base, Pinghai Navy Base and Tri-Service General Hospital’s Songshan branch, it said. The devices were manufactured in the Chinese factories of German solar energy equipment supplier SMA Solar Technology, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Delta Electronics Co, Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei and Taiwanese industrial PC maker Advantech Co, the bureau said. The bureau’s
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
Beijing’s recent provocative actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea were partly meant as a “dress rehearsal” for the invasion of Taiwan, former US deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger said at a Heritage Foundation forum in Washington on Tuesday. Beijing’s blocking of a Philippine resupply mission on June 17 with unprecedented violence had multiple implications. “What they’re doing is trying to demonstrate that they can blockade, create a sense of futility and discredit the idea that the United States is going to help not only the Philippines, but by extension Taiwan,” Pottinger said. Pottinger was referring to a clash