Despite President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “diplomatic truce” and the appearance of warming ties between Taipei and Beijing, China continues to use pressure to bar Taiwanese from participating in international events.
According to the Chinese-language United Daily News, Taiwan’s team in the 4th Annual Warrior Competition was unable to participate in the event after China decided to register for the special forces competition held at the state-of-the-art King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center (KASOTC) in Amman, Jordan, from May 2 through May 6.
Event organizers have confirmed that the People’s Liberation Army team lodged a protest with KASOTC and compelled it to respect the “one China” policy, which barred Taiwan from taking part. Days before they were set to depart for Jordan, the Taiwanese team of eight army airborne officers was informed that their qualification for the event had been withdrawn.
Although Taiwanese special forces have participated in several international competitions in the past, this year was the first time it had registered for the Warrior Competition, although it sent observers to last year’s event.
A total of 16 teams from the military, law enforcement and the private sector participated this year, the organizer said on its Web site, with Germany’s GSG9 counter-terrorism unit taking top prize.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) blamed the lack of official diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Jordan for the incident, a turn of events that could nevertheless be an embarrassment to Ma, who has argued that his diplomatic truce with Beijing is helping combat Taiwan’s international isolation.
Over the years, Jordan has bought thousands of Taiwan-made T86 carbines and T91 assault rifles with which to equip its special forces. Until about 10 years ago, small contingents of Jordanian special forces undertook training in Taiwan.
According to Jordanian media, the country’s regal head, King Abdullah II, visited Taiwan on three occasions prior to ascending the throne in 1999.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
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