As the conflict over the presidential election continued, China on Tuesday declared that it had established relations with one of Taiwan's diplomatic allies, Dominica. This was an attempt to shame President Chen Shui-bian (
This is no new trick. Anyone familiar with diplomatic affairs understood that China would find some way to take revenge. It was simply a question of where it would apply its efforts.
We are reminded that Liberia severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan a mere three days after last year's Double Ten National Day celebrations. Word later came from Liberia that China had wanted the decision to be announced on Oct. 10 to produce maximum embarrassment for Taiwan, but Liberia chose to make the announcement on the 13th since it had no intention of also ending its friendly relations with Taiwan.
Although we think it shameful that the largest country in East Asia would resort to such treacherous diplomatic behavior, this has long been the norm. As Taiwan knows from its experience in the international arena, China is small-minded in its behavior, although it claims to be an example of benevolence and morality. It really would be strange if Beijing didn't try to avenge Chen's re-election. But this act of pettiness in fact puts the lie to China's claim that it didn't care who won the election.
China, a face-loving country, finds it a loss of face that Chen, despite all challenges, managed to organize the referendum and win the hard-fought campaign. China thus poured financial aid into Taiwan's ally to regain some of its beloved face.
This is certainly regrettable. Not long ago, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) promised to work to create an opportunity for peaceful cross-strait dialogue. His remarks, so refreshing, gave us hope that he intended to leave past Chinese sabre-rattling behind.
However, trust has once again been sabotaged by this sneaky move from Beijing. We cannot but wonder if Hu is truly different from his predecessors, or if he only is better at applying the cosmetic of rhetoric.
Putting aside the cross-strait issue, Taiwan's contribution to developing countries is widely acknowledged. Tired of raising the stakes in this game with China, Taiwan has changed the way it aids its allies. Starting with former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), Taiwan stopped giving fish to its allies and instead started teaching them how to fish. In particular, a lot has been achieved in helping underdeveloped countries develop farming and fishing technologies.
Last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cooperated with a publisher to produce a bilingual book entitled Greening the Sahel: The Taiwan Experience in Burkina Faso (
We are not trying to toot our own horn by praising the achievements of Taiwan's agricultural technical teams. Rather, we are reminding the international community that although Taiwan's main diplomatic goal is its international survival space, its other, equally important diplomatic goal, is to contribute to progress in the underdeveloped world.
Taiwan has never forgotten the financial and technical aid provided by the UN and the US when we experienced hardship. In fact, the nation's economic miracle is founded on the generous assistance provided by the international community. Chinese pressure will never make us forget our promises.
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
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