In the light of China's aggressive push into Africa, Taiwan should work to consolidate diplomatic ties with its African allies by helping to develop their economies, an official said yesterday.
"Instead of merely providing financial assistance to our allies, we should improve their business environments and lure Taiwanese companies to invest there," Bill Cho (
China and 10 African countries signed a total of 16 trade deals worth US$1.9 billion during the China-Africa summit in Beijing last Saturday.
A large number of Africa's 53 states were represented in last week's meetings, including private sector representatives from Burkina Faso, Gambia, Malawi, Sao Tome and Principe and Swaziland -- ?countries that recognize Taiwan.
Through their diplomatic ties with Taiwan, these African countries hoped to attract investment to the region. But the poor condition of their economies result in few Taiwanese enterprises choosing to invest there, regardless of incentives provided by the government, Cho said.
To better encourage investment in Africa and so consolidate diplomatic relations, the government should help build infrastructure such as highways and ports to facilitate trade, Cho said.
The government should also attempt to identify niche industries and help to develop them, Cho said.
Taipei should also negotiate with insurance companies to insure Taiwanese properties in Africa in the event of wars or riots, Cho said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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