Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (
"Beijing will never give up its efforts to crush Taiwan at any cost," said Huang, responding to speculation that Beijing could ease its rhetoric against Taiwan ahead of elections to avoid drumming up sympathy for the Democratic Progressive Party.
Huang said Beijing would most likely step up its efforts to oppress Taiwan over the next few months and urged all ministry staffers to watch for Beijing's tricks.
Huang reiterated that the nation would not compete with China in a "dollar diplomacy" race to buy allies because it had no reason to engage in an impossible battle.
"There have been rumors that China has offered a US$6 billion financial package in exchange for Malawi's recognition. We could never afford to compete with such an amount. What we offer, however, is trust, dependability and unwavering friendship," he said, adding that the ministry was closely monitoring the situation in the African country.
Huang said that Taiwan-US ties remain "solid, stable, close and friendly," in spite of Washington's vocal opposition to Taiwan's planned referendum on joining the UN under the name "Taiwan."
"In the past seven and half years, the Taiwan-US relationship has been a roller coaster," he admitted, but stressed Taiwan had not made any "provocative" moves to unilaterally change the "status quo" as it is understood by Washington.
Anything Taiwan does to push along its democratic development will be labeled by its "foe" China as a "provocative maneuver towards de jure independence," Huang said.
Huang said that, in the past few years, the nation had amply demonstrated its wisdom and strength in making progress at home without shedding a drop of blood.
The US and other international players should have confidence in the nation's ability to do its bit to maintain cross-strait peace, he said.
Huang said that although this year had been a "worrisome and difficult" year for the ministry -- marred by Costa Rica's sudden switch of allegiance to China in June -- it was also a year for the ministry to explore new ways of engaging in diplomacy.
Under the leadership of President Chen Shui-bian (
Although both bids were rejected, they were nevertheless milestones in Taiwanese history, he said.
Another ministry accomplishment this year, Huang said, was the restoration of ties with St Lucia in April.
In the future, Taiwan will strive to contribute more to fighting global warming by helping its allies to develop alternative energy and solar power technology, he said.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
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
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
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