China has set up a trade mission in Taiwan’s diplomatic ally Sao Tome and Principe, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) said yesterday, adding that the establishment of commercial ties with Beijing would not affect the country’s diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Lin confirmed media reports from Sao Tome that the Chinese trade mission was opened after the two countries signed an agreement on Tuesday in the former Chinese embassy in the capital, Sao Tome.
The agreement, a reflection of China’s increasing presence in Africa, made Sao Tome and Principe the first of Taiwan’s four diplomatic allies in Africa to have a Chinese trade mission.
“I do not see the possibility of [Sao Tome restoring diplomatic ties with China] at the present,” David Lin told Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not kept in the dark about the situation,” he said. “We have been keeping tabs on that and they [Sao Tome officials] told us in advance.”
Sao Tome and Principe became a diplomatic ally of China after the island nation became independent from Portugal in 1975. It switched recognition to Taiwan in 1997. A Portuguese-speaking country, it is a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, which has strengthened its links with China after Beijing’s establishment of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries — the Macau Forum — in 2003. The forum reviews Chinese investments in those countries.
Liberato Moniz, who represented Sao Tomean President Manuel Pinto da Costa at Tuesday’s signing ceremony, was quoted by Reuters as saying: “The islands of Sao Tome must be open to the world, making friends and partnerships.”
Sao Tomean Public Works Minister Osvaldo Abreu said Chinese businesspeople and industrialists would soon arrive and a planned US$400 million deepwater port could be a target for potential collaboration.
Sao Tome and Principe’s economy is heavily dependent on cocoa exports, but its location at the center of the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea has raised interest in its potential as a possible future oil and gas producer, Reuters reported.
Another media report said China has appointed Zhang Hanwu to head the new trade office.
Zhang said that the mission would promote trade involving Chinese businesspeople with investments in Sao Tome and Principe, Angola and Portugal.
According to the Reuters report, Sao Tomean officials did not say whether the deal with Beijing would affect ties with Taipei.
Sao Tomean Ambassador Antonio Quintas, who took office early last month, did not respond to inquiries from the Taipei Times.
Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General David Wang (王建業) yesterday said that Pinto da Costa’s administration “has given its word to Taiwan both in his country and in Taipei” that the plan to develop ties with China was economic in nature and has nothing to do with the country’s diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Taiwan is not opposed to its diplomatic allies developing economic and trade relationships with China because it understands that having such relationships brings economic advantages, but it hopes the relations will not spill over to the political front, Wang said.
China has established trade missions in three of the nation’s diplomatic allies: Panama, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
RSS