China yesterday launched a new warning to other countries not to interfere in its affairs in Tibet and Taiwan.
Washington irked Beijing in January when it approved the sale of a US$6.4 billion package of arms to Taiwan, and then again a month later when US President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama at the White House.
Without referring specifically to the US leader, Li Zhaoxing (李肇星), former foreign minister and spokesman for the National People’s Congress (NPC), said Western leaders should have better things to do than meet the Dalai Lama.
“Although Western leaders are very busy with their work ... they still take the time to see the Dalai Lama,” Li told a press conference.
“We can’t understand this, and when Chinese people hear about this they are very angry,” Li said. “Some people believe the sweet words of the Dalai, he says that he doesn’t support Tibet independence, but more importantly we watch his actions.”
He said it was “totally unacceptable” for foreign governments to interfere in China’s affairs by selling arms to Taiwan, adding: “At a time when the Chinese people across the Taiwan Strait are carrying out friendly exchanges as brothers, the advanced arms sales to Taiwan by a certain country is like handing a dagger to one person when he is hugging his brother.”
Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang (秦剛) said yesterday the US has pledged to work to improve relations with Beijing.
US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg held an “in-depth and candid exchange of views” with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (楊潔箎) and other officials during a three-day visit this week, Qin said.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
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