The government yesterday said that it would not bow to Chinese pressure and called for the support of the international community against China’s “out-of-control actions” after Beijing urged Apple, Amazon.com and other foreign companies to change the way they refer to Taiwan.
“As for China’s related out-of-control actions, we need to remind the international community to face this squarely and to unite efforts to reduce and contain such actions,” Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) told reporters in Taipei.
“Brutal behaviors” such as forcing the “one country, two systems” model on Taiwan, using politics to affect other nations’ economies or threatening foreign enterprises to alter references to Taiwan are all efforts by Beijing to interfere in the domestic affairs of other nations, he said.
Photo: Li Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
Such actions not only risk destabilizing the international community, but could also cause the world to lose faith in and respect for China, and constitute a “blatant disruption” to the positive development of cross-strait relations, he added.
Taiwan is undoubtedly closely linked to the international community, Huang said, adding that changing its name online would not erase it from the world.
Huang’s remarks came after one of China’s top government-linked think tanks, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in a report earlier this month that 66 of the world’s 500 largest companies have used “incorrect labels” for Taiwan.
According to the Chinese state-run Legal Daily, the academy’s report, which was cowritten with Peking University’s Internet Development Research Institution, said that 53 companies also referred to Hong Kong “erroneously” and 45 referred to both “incorrectly.”
An official at the institute told Reuters that the report had not yet been published and declined to provide a copy.
China has stepped up its pressure on Taiwan since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, took office in 2016.
That has included rising Chinese scrutiny in the past few months over how companies from airlines, such as Air Canada, to retailers, such as Gap, refer to the nation.
Nike, Siemens, ABB, Subaru and other companies were also on the list.
Apple, Amazon, ABB, Siemens, Subaru and Nike did not immediately respond to requests for comment by Reuters.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday also condemned China’s action in a news release, saying that the move demonstrated Beijing’s “evil intent” to downgrade the nation’s sovereignty.
The ministry reiterated that Taiwan is an independent, sovereign nation, a fact that would not be changed by China’s actions, saying that such acts of bullying would only further “widen the rift between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.”
It also called on the international community to join Taipei in opposing Chinese bullying.
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,
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
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS