Pressure from China was one of the reasons Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo (
Singapore has felt tremendous pressure from China since its leader Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) visited Taiwan as deputy prime minister in July. Yeo made the remarks in the UN so that China "would feel more comfortable," ministry spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said.
At the 59th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Yeo told world leaders the international community should not allow the deteriorating relationship across the Taiwan Strait to get out of control.
"The push towards independence by certain groups in Taiwan is most dangerous because it will lead to war with mainland China and drag in other countries. At stake is the stability of the entire Asia-Pacific region," he said.
Yeo said cross-strait relationship began to worsen after former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) gave "a shocking interview" to a Japanese magazine describing himself as Moses leading his people out of Egypt.
"From then on, cross-straits relations went from bad to worse as pro-independence forces in Taiwan became increasingly adventurous," Yeo said.
Like in the Middle East, the international community has a strong vested interest in supporting a peaceful resolution of cross-straits conflict, based on the "one China" position adopted and settled by the UN in 1971, Yeo added.
Responding to Yeo's comments, Lu said each country in East and Southeast Asia has a responsibility to contribute to the region's peace and stability. "But they should use even-handed approaches in dealing with Taiwan and China," he said.
"China has deployed many missiles aimed at us. Is that acceptable? Taiwan wants to defend itself. Is that wrong?" the spokesman said, appealing to the international community for fair treatment of Taiwan.
Lee Shen-hsiung (李勝雄), vice chairman of the World United Formosans for Independence, said Taiwan is an independent country and not ruled by China.
"Why can't Singapore, as an independent country, respect Taiwan as a sovereign nation?" he said.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
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IN FULL SWING: Recall drives against lawmakers in Hualien, Taoyuan and Hsinchu have reached the second-stage threshold, the campaigners said Campaigners in a recall petition against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) in Taichung yesterday said their signature target is within sight, and that they need a big push to collect about 500 more signatures from locals to reach the second-stage threshold. Recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) are also close to the 10 percent threshold, and campaigners are mounting a final push this week. They need about 800 signatures against Chiang and about 2,000 against Yang. Campaigners seeking to recall Lo said they had reached the threshold figure over the
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