The Presidential Office yesterday denied talking to Beijing on the nation’s ties with El Salvador after Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou’s (歐鴻鍊) recent remarks suggested Taiwan might be open to dual diplomatic recognition of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
When fielding questions from lawmakers at the Foreign and National Defense Committee on Thursday, in response to a question on whether Taiwan would break ties with El Salvador if it establishes ties with China, Ou said: “No.”
El Salvador, one of Taiwan’s few remaining diplomatic allies, is preparing to inaugurate a left-leaning president, Mauricio Funes, who was elected on March 15.
Reports said that Funes was considering establishing diplomatic links with China after he takes office on June 1. The report has given rise to concern in Taiwan that the Central American ally, one of 23 allies that Taiwan has around the world, would switch recognition to China.
Soon after Ou commented on the issue, ministry spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) told reporters that Taiwan did not wish to see El Salvador and China become diplomatic allies, but would not be opposed to their developing closer trade relations.
Later the same day, Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said the government would not recognize diplomatic ties between the nation’s allies and China.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) reiterated on Friday that Taiwan was not pursuing dual diplomatic recognition, as this had never worked in the past.
“It would be too impractical to seek dual recognition. This would create more problems than it would solve,” Ma said at the time in response to a press query.
A report in the Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday said that the Presidential Office had talked to Beijing about El Salvador’s alleged plan to establish ties with China shortly after Ou made the remarks on Thursday.
Wang yesterday dismissed the report, insisting that the government did not contact China or receive any message from Beijing on the issue.
Wang said the Presidential Office had asked the ministry to clarify the issue immediately after Ou made the remarks and also made it clear that the government would not recognize diplomatic ties between the nation’s allies and China.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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 fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
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
RSS