China is not putting any pressure on Taiwan’s last diplomatic ally in Africa, the Kingdom of Eswatini, to switch to Beijing, but believes it is just a matter of time before that happens, a senior Chinese diplomat said yesterday.
China has become increasingly vocal about its desire to win away the country, formerly known as Swaziland, from Taiwan, even as the Swazi government has denounced Beijing for playing “mind games” and says it has no desire to ditch Taipei.
Eswatini is to be the only African country not represented at a major summit between China and the continent opening in Beijing next week, where Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is likely to offer new loans and aid for Africa.
Speaking at a news briefing, China’s special envoy for Africa Xu Jinghu (許鏡湖) said the issue of Eswatini and its lack of ties to Beijing was “an important question,” but it was up to them to take the initiative.
“On this issue we won’t exert any pressure. We’ll wait for the time to be right,” Xu said. “I believe this day will come sooner or later.”
Taiwan has formal ties with only 17 nations, many of them small, less-developed nations in Central America and the Pacific, including Belize and Nauru.
Taiwan has vowed to fight China’s “increasingly out of control” behavior after Taipei last month lost another diplomatic ally to Beijing when El Salvador became the third country to switch allegiances to China this year.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has vowed not to bow to Chinese pressure, and Taipei has accused Beijing of offering generous aid and loan packages to lure its allies across, charges China strongly denies.
Cheng Tao (程濤), a former head of the Africa division at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the news briefing that he had been involved in talks with African countries about abandoning Taiwan and recognizing China, and that money requests had come up.
“They said that while we want to establish diplomatic ties with China, we hope China can give us certain support financially,” Cheng said, without naming the nations he had been in talks with. “They were very blunt.”
“We told them [that] establishing ties is a political decision. It’s not a deal,” he added.
China’s hostility to Taiwan has grown since Tsai’s election, as Beijing fears that she wishes to push for formal independence, a red line for China.
Tsai has said she wants to maintain the “status quo,” but will defend Taiwan’s democracy.
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS