China has exposed its autocratic nature by threatening Taiwanese expats in an attempt to prevent them returning home to attend next month’s Double Ten National Day celebrations, the Overseas Community Affairs Council said yesterday.
The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday published a report citing sources as saying that China has delivered threats to Taiwanese across Southeast Asia through its embassies, saying that those who return home for Double Ten National Day would face difficulties when applying for a Chinese visa.
Local travel agencies in Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia and other countries in the region were asked to meet with the Chinese ambassadors there, and were asked to inform Taiwanese about possible difficulties they might encounter in their Chinese visa applications, the report said.
When reached for comment, the council said that China’s oppression of Taiwanese expats is pervasive, such as pressuring overseas compatriot groups friendly toward Taiwan into flying the People’s Republic of China flag or issuing thinly veiled threats regarding Chinese visa applications.
Council Deputy Minister Kao Chien-chih (高建智) cited as an example a meeting of Malaysian alumni from Taiwan that he attended early last month, saying that there were rumors that Chinese embassies had asked Malaysian city councilors not to attend the event.
China seeks to win people over with money, such as by funding schools or offering benefits to Taiwanese businesspeople working in projects related to its Belt and Road Initiative, Kao said.
Beijing has stepped up its efforts to subvert Taiwanese expat groups, the commission said in a report to the Legislative Yuan in October last year.
Since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was inaugurated on May 20, 2016, the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification has been holding events and talks across North America and other regions, urging Taiwanese expatriates to set aside their pro-independence sentiments and promote unification with China, the overseas affairs council said.
China’s actions have shown the world its true nature — an authoritarian regime — the council said, adding that all Taiwanese are welcome to return home for Double Ten National Day.
It is customary to invite overseas compatriots to return home to attend the celebrations, the council said, adding that about 5,000 people on average answer the call each year.
Last year’s celebrations saw the highest number of Taiwanese expats attendees in six years, at 6,300 people, the council added.
China has used its political and economical leverage to force Southeast Asian nations to “speak with China first” before reaching any kind of deal — even a discount — with Taiwanese businesspeople, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said.
These actions aim to counter the Tsai administration’s New Southbound Policy and the government should offer more assistance to Taiwanese businesspeople overseas, Chiu said.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS