Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer yesterday urged Taiwan not to move toward independence, just days ahead of his scheduled visit to Beijing.
"I want to make it clear that Australia opposes any actions or statements that could be seen as moves by Taiwan towards independence," Downer said in Sydney. "This would be to risk, to use a diplomatic euphemism, upsetting regional stability, which would be in no one's interests, including the interests of the people of Taiwan."
The remarks come in the same week that Taiwan launched its latest campaign to join the UN.
Reiterating its long-standing support for the "one China" policy, Downer said Australia urges both China and Taiwan "to explore actively new approaches towards dialogue aimed at reducing tensions across the Taiwan Strait with a view to achieving a lasting peaceful solution."
Downer, who is due to visit Beijing briefly next week on his way to North Korea for talks on its nuclear program, said Taiwan and China should negotiate a way out of the impasse.
Downer also said North Korea is capable of targeting Australia with a long-range missile and that Australia was ill-equipped to cope with such an attack.
"We believe they have developed a long-range missile that could go all the way from North Korea to the United States or, for that matter, here," he told Australian radio. "They could fire a missile from North Korea to Sydney."
In a bid to break the diplomatic deadlock over North Korea's nuclear ambitions, China, the US, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia are due to hold a fourth round of negotiations before the end of next month.
Australia is not involved in the talks.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
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