Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) on Monday called accusations against Taiwan by Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare “irresponsible” after Sogavare claimed that riots in his nation were initiated by “Taiwan’s agents.”
Sogavare, who has been accused of graft, should see the riots as a sign that he is an unpopular leader, and that his decision to sever ties with Taiwan was made against the wishes of his people.
There were concerns about Sogavare’s leadership even before opposition leader Matthew Wale initiated a no-confidence vote. In November last year, Sogavare moved to ban Facebook due to alleged Chinese influence, after the platform was used to criticize Sogavare’s administration and organize protests.
While Taiwan should continue to show concern for the people of the Solomon Islands and should welcome them to Taiwan, it need not be concerned about maintaining exchanges with the country’s government if it does not share Taiwan’s democratic values. Nor should it be compelled to respond to allegations made by such a government.
On Sept. 18, 2019, just after Honiara cut ties with Taipei, the ministry received messages from Solomon Islanders lamenting the decision by their government, which the ministry posted on Facebook. The riots, which aimed to see Sogavare resign and the ties with Taipei reinstated, show that Solomon Islanders’ sentiments toward Taiwan have not changed. They also point to an administration that is still not acting in the interest of its people.
In comparison, Palau is a like-minded ally with which Taiwan can resolve issues constructively. After Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr on Nov. 19 said that China Airlines was “poisoning” his country’s tourism market by canceling its flights to the country last month, the state-owned carrier said it would resume flights this month.
Taiwan must focus its efforts on maintaining good relations with fellow democracies, particularly those such as Palau that have shunned income from Chinese tourists in favor of maintaining ties with Taiwan — with both sharing concern for the environment, sustainability, public health and other key issues.
Meanwhile, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Monday reaffirmed his government’s ties with Taipei, and associated those ties with being a US ally. As US-China tensions continue to grow over the Chinese buildup in the South China Sea, exchanges with Taiwan and an ongoing trade dispute, countries worldwide increasingly find themselves on one side or the other. Those espousing democracy and shared values with the US likely support Taipei even at risk of angering Beijing. This is the trend in Europe, where countries such as the Czech Republic and Lithuania are increasingly taking bold steps to boost ties with Taipei and dismissing threats from China.
US officials have praised moves such as Lithuania’s opening of a representative office in Taipei. Conversely, when Honiara cut ties with Taipei in 2019, then-US vice president Mike Pence criticized Sogavare and canceled a trip to meet the prime minister.
The government need not worry about losing diplomatic allies or responding to baseless allegations from former allies, because leaders who care about democracy and human rights will want to have exchanges with Taiwan, while those inclined toward corruption and autocracy will crawl toward China, regardless of what Taiwan does for them.
Unfortunately for the citizens of countries favoring Beijing, their leadership will likely be bolstered while the public will face environmental degradation, inadequate infrastructure, rising public debt and an erosion of free speech and other liberties.
The government should continue to focus on its friendships with democracies, and should say goodbye to those inclined toward alliances with Beijing. It should also continue to press fellow democracies — especially the US — to establish formal ties.
As the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) reach the point of confidence that they can start and win a war to destroy the democratic culture on Taiwan, any future decision to do so may likely be directly affected by the CCP’s ability to promote wars on the Korean Peninsula, in Europe, or, as most recently, on the Indian subcontinent. It stands to reason that the Trump Administration’s success early on May 10 to convince India and Pakistan to deescalate their four-day conventional military conflict, assessed to be close to a nuclear weapons exchange, also served to
The recent aerial clash between Pakistan and India offers a glimpse of how China is narrowing the gap in military airpower with the US. It is a warning not just for Washington, but for Taipei, too. Claims from both sides remain contested, but a broader picture is emerging among experts who track China’s air force and fighter jet development: Beijing’s defense systems are growing increasingly credible. Pakistan said its deployment of Chinese-manufactured J-10C fighters downed multiple Indian aircraft, although New Delhi denies this. There are caveats: Even if Islamabad’s claims are accurate, Beijing’s equipment does not offer a direct comparison
After India’s punitive precision strikes targeting what New Delhi called nine terrorist sites inside Pakistan, reactions poured in from governments around the world. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) issued a statement on May 10, opposing terrorism and expressing concern about the growing tensions between India and Pakistan. The statement noticeably expressed support for the Indian government’s right to maintain its national security and act against terrorists. The ministry said that it “works closely with democratic partners worldwide in staunch opposition to international terrorism” and expressed “firm support for all legitimate and necessary actions taken by the government of India
Taiwan aims to elevate its strategic position in supply chains by becoming an artificial intelligence (AI) hub for Nvidia Corp, providing everything from advanced chips and components to servers, in an attempt to edge out its closest rival in the region, South Korea. Taiwan’s importance in the AI ecosystem was clearly reflected in three major announcements Nvidia made during this year’s Computex trade show in Taipei. First, the US company’s number of partners in Taiwan would surge to 122 this year, from 34 last year, according to a slide shown during CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech on Monday last week.
RSS