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 prudence, unequivocally opposes Taiwanese independence and supports China’s peaceful reunification,” a readout of the meeting published by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday showed.
Photo: AFP
The White House’s statement about the meeting was different, Tsai said yesterday in response to media queries, adding that the Chinese leader seldom directly mentioned the name of a Taiwanese leader at international occasions.
The NSB would not exclude the possibility of Beijing deliberately using media propaganda or cognitive warfare, he said.
Meanwhile, the DPP yesterday condemned China for repeatedly misrepresenting meeting content to downgrade Taiwan.
Beijing had wrongly quoted the Three Joint Communiques in February last year by saying that the US recognizes “one China,” when the statement was actually the US acknowledges “one China,” the DPP said.
Seoul in May criticized Beijing for mischaracterizing South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s remark at the China-Japan-South Korea trilateral summit as “South Korea adheres to the ‘one China’ principle,” saying that South Korea only “respects” the principle and opposes changing the “status quo” by force, it said.
Tokyo also rebutted Beijing’s version of Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa’s remark that “Japan’s adherence to the ‘one China’ principle did not change” after she met with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) in July.
Japan said its view on cross-strait issues aligns with the Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People’s Republic of China.
Separately, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) yesterday said Xi mentioning Lai is a sign of danger, adding that Beijing in the past never directly named Taiwanese leaders.
By mentioning Lai in the statement, “Xi was telling Taiwanese that Beijing’s actions against Taiwan, including the military drills, were all aimed at Lai and the DPP,” he said.
Additional reporting by Lin Hsin-han and CNA
‘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
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS