China seems to have relented in its ongoing diplomatic campaign to pressure Taiwan in the international arena, as fewer examples of such behavior were reported to the foreign ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
“In the first half of the year, there were relatively fewer examples of China’s suppression of Taiwan,” MOFA spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said after the ministry updated its Web page listing China’s latest attempts to denigrate Taiwan in the international arena.
The ministry updates the site every three months to inform the public of incidents in which Beijing undermines Taiwan’s participation in international political, economic, trade, athletic or cultural events.
It remains unclear, however, if the trend is related to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) election on March 22 and the “modus vivendi” diplomatic strategy he put in place after being inaugurated on May 20.
Ma has described his “modus vivendi” approach as a pragmatic diplomatic strategy to gain more international space for Taiwan. It aims to safeguard Taiwan’s rights while consolidating diplomatic relations with allies and restoring mutual trust with countries that influence Taiwan even in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
Ma also proposed a “diplomatic truce” aimed at ending the longstanding diplomatic tug-of-war with China in which both countries try to lure each other’s allies to switch diplomatic allegiance by offering them large sums of money in foreign aid.
The MOFA Web site said that among the incidents in which China exerted pressure on Taiwan was when Beijing reasserted its claim of sovereignty over Taiwan and the Diaoyutai (釣魚台) islands after a Taiwanese recreational boat collided with a Japanese patrol vessel and sank near the islands on June 10.
After the incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang (秦剛) referred to the Taiwanese vessel as a “Taiwan, China” fishing boat and reiterated that the Diaoyutais are Chinese territory. Qin also demanded that the Japanese Coast Guard end any illegal encroachment into Chinese territorial waters.
In another attempt to suppress Taiwan’s international presence, China on May 20 blocked Taiwan’s bid to participate as an observer at the World Health Assembly — WHO’s top decision-making body.
China had also successfully prevented officials of Taiwan’s representative office in Germany from attending a seminar held by Germany’s health department by protesting and threatening to withdraw from the event.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS