The nation's newly forged ties with Vanuatu remained mired in confusion yesterday, with Taiwanese officials insisting that relations have not been altered despite reports of a Cabinet statement from the South Pacific nation saying ties with Taiwan would be revoked.
"Our officials in Vanuatu spoke with the Prime Minister [Serge Vohor] this morning [Friday]. Vohor had assured them that nothing had changed and that they needed some time," Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michel Lu (
According to Lu, discussion of Vanuatu's ties with both Taiwan and China will come up again on Monday during a parliamentary session in Port Vila.
The Associated Press (AP) reported yesterday that Vohor had caved in to pressure from his Cabinet to abandon a deal granting diplomatic recognition to Taiwan. The report said "`Vohor's Council of Minsters had voted to `unilaterally and unequivocally revoke all agreements and undertakings ... made on behalf of Vanuatu,' a Cabinet statement said" late Thursday.
"Logically, it makes no sense to say the Cabinet agreed to a resolution on the matter, as there is still disagreement in the Cabinet," Lu said, saying that China had been spreading rumors about the Cabinet's decision to back the "one China" principle.
Lu also said that the ministry was on top of the debacle in the tiny South Pacific nation, saying that they had spoken with Vanuatuan government spokesman Kalvau Moli who had denied reports that ties with Taiwan would be dissolved.
"Our flag is still flying high in Vanuatu," Lu said.
The AP reported that Moli had said that the premier "will go by the decision ... the verdict of the Council of Ministers" and break his agreement to recognize Taiwan.
The report further said that Vanuatu's ministers said they "will request the Peoples' Republic of China to consider providing budgetary assistance" to Vanuatu.
"In a letter to the Chinese government dated Nov. 6, and published Friday in a local newspaper, Vohor said that `Taiwan has recently indicated its commitment to provide US$20 million budgetary support annually for five years to the Vanuatu government,'" the report said.
"It's their culture. They are Melanesian and would rather avoid confrontation. They prefer to sit down and discuss the matter," Lu said, saying some more time would be needed to resolve the controversy.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS