China will continue to explore the possibility of luring away nations that maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan in the wake of Sao Tome and Principe severing its ties with Taipei, two China experts said.
The African nation on Wednesday announced that it was ending its 19-year-old diplomatic ties with Taiwan amid reports that Taiwan had refused its request for US$210 million in aid.
Former American Institute in Taiwan director Douglas Paal said that before a planned visit next month by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to four of the nation’s allies in Central America — Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador — China could be exploring the possibility of luring them away, either now or during her visit.
Paal, who has recently visited both sides of the Taiwan Strait, said that there are some in Beijing who believe China should react more strongly to Tsai’s Dec. 2 telephone call to US president-elect Donald Trump.
Trump said later that he would not feel “bound by a ‘one China’ policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade.”
Heritage Foundation Asian Studies Center director Walter Lohman said that it must have been Sao Tome and Principe that took the initiative to get in touch with China and that he believes Beijing would continue to explore the possibility of luring away Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.
Lohman said that other recent incidents, such as Beijing seizing a US underwater drone in the South China Sea, are all part of China’s reaction to the changes in the triangular relationship between the US, China and Taiwan. -
The focus now will be on when China and Sao Tome and Principe would establish diplomatic ties, he said, adding that the longer it takes, the more it will show that it was Sao Tome and Principe that took the initiative.
Lohman said China’s attitude toward Taiwan has been consistent since Tsai won the presidential election in January.
He said that China certainly is not happy with Trump’s recent moves, but added Beijing would observe developments and try to sway the new US government.
Taiwan now has just two African diplomatic allies — Swaziland and Burkina Faso — among its remaining total of 21, most of which are Central American and Pacific island nations.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
The Ministry of Environment yesterday held a seminar in Taipei for experts from Taiwan and Japan to exchange their experiences on the designs and development of public toilets. Japan Toilet Association chairman Kohei Yamamoto said that he was impressed with the eco-toilet set up at Daan Forest Park, adding that Japan still faces issues regarding public restrooms despite the progress it made over the past decades. For example, an all-gender toilet was set up in Kabukicho in Tokyo’s Shinjuku District several years ago, but it caused a public backlash and was rebuilt into traditional men’s and women’s toilets, he said. Japan Toilet Association