Despite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ insistence that a Beijing-hosted forum with Central American and Carribbean states that included some of Taiwan’s allies last week was not political in nature, the summit concluded with participants declaring that they would tackle “political and diplomatic” issues.
The China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit was held on Thursday and Friday. CELAC has 33 members, including 12 of Taiwan’s 22 diplomatic allies, with at least nine of them attending the forum.
According to a report by China’s Xinhuanet, the forum reached three conclusions: the “Beijing Declaration,” a five-year cooperation plan and regulations governing the China-CELAC summit.
The Beijing Declaration states that China and the participating Latin American countries would, under the framework of the forum and the principle of respecting one another’s sovereignty, hold meetings that touch on areas such as foreign affairs, politics and economics.
The ministry had said in a statement on Thursday that the forum would only focus on economics and not deal with politics.
The presence of Taiwan’s allies at the forum will not affect their diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and those allies had all informed the ministry beforehand, the ministry said at the time.
Panama, one of Taiwan’s Central American allies, also issued a statement on Saturday stating that the Beijing Declaration would reinforce cultural exchanges between China and Latin American counties.
The statement also quoted Panamanian Deputy Foreign Minister Luis Miguel Hincapie as proposing, on behalf of Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, that the next China-CELAC summit be held between the “heads of governments” to engage in the “highest-level” cooperation.
In response, MOFA spokeswoman Anna Kao (高安) said that Taiwan maintains robust diplomatic relations with Panama, which had informed the ministry that it would participate in the forum only as a member of a regional organization and that it promised to stay away from politics.
The ministry will continue to monitor developments, she added.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said the ministry was turning a blind eye to the fact that China is courting Taiwan’s Latin American allies.
Chiu questioned whether the ministry and the nation’s overseas missions have a full picture of the situation, and demanded a thorough account from the ministry.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said that China has been building an ever-stronger presence in Latin America, and the local anti-US sentiment has reinforced China’s influence in the region.
Taiwan’s ruling and opposition parties should unite on this front, instead of engaging in a futile blame game, he added.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Snowflakes were seen on Yushan’s north peak from 6:28am to 6:38am, but they did not fully cover the ground and no accumulation was recorded, the CWA said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. On Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County, a low of 1.3°C was recorded at 6:39pm, when ice pellets fell at Songsyue Lodge (松雪樓), a
RSS