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.
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