Recently, several Facebook groups have shared a post by someone named Wayne Boyle, which says that the participation of Palauan officials in last week’s Halifax International Security Forum (HFX) in Taipei might contravene Beijing’s “one China” principle. The post emphasized that Palau should not become a bargaining chip in Taiwan’s confrontation with China. The post notes that its author is a “New Zealand journalist,” but upon investigation, the account has no prior post history aside from this article. It is possible that it is a fake account, created for the purpose of forming a “consensus” by sharing the post to other accounts and groups, thereby successfully manipulating public opinion through information warfare.
HFX is a globally renowned security conference that discusses democratic values, international security and strategic issues in the Indo-Pacific region. The forum was held in Canada in November last year, where the 2020 John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service was awarded to former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in recognition of her contributions.
This move triggered strong protests from China, which criticized it as an infringement of its “one China” principle. On Thursday and Friday last week, the forum was held in Taiwan for the first time, further strengthening Taiwan’s international diplomacy and highlighting China’s hostility toward the forum.
Palau is a diplomatic ally of Taiwan — the two countries have cooperated in the areas of healthcare, economics, education and more. Taiwan has assisted Palau in constructing medical facilities, dispatched medical teams to provide aid and enhanced local infrastructure through technical cooperation projects.
Furthermore, Palau has voiced its support for Taiwan in international forums, including openly advocating for Taiwan’s increased international participation at the UN General Assembly. This relationship has provided Taiwan and Palau with a certain degree of mutual trust and cooperation on diplomatic and regional security issues.
However, this widely circulated Facebook post deliberately emphasized that Palau should take a “cautious” diplomatic stance, even suggesting that Palau’s strong relationship with Taiwan has led to a drop in Chinese tourists to the country, thereby impacting its economic development. It further argues that the Palauan government should — in protecting its national interests — appropriately handle its relationship with China, rather than becoming a victim of the Taiwan Strait issue.
However, the article fails to clearly specify what kind of unnecessary political pressure Palau is facing, nor does it explain which party is engaging in said coercion and inducement. Instead, it uses vague language to lead readers into believing that Palau should not have sent officials to participate in the HFX Taipei forum — which has no real influence — attempting to sow uncertainty in the Taiwan-Palau relationship.
Taiwan and Palau’s friendship is solid, and the two countries’ official interactions and exchanges are normal diplomatic activities that should not be influenced by such vaguely positioned articles. Such narratives that easily mislead readers and create unnecessary trouble are a common tactic in information warfare. Given the presently changing situation in the Indo-Pacific region, we must exercise more caution when judging content that deliberately blurs the focus and creates a divisive atmosphere to prevent the manipulation of public opinion.
Elliot Yao is a reviewer.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
They did it again. For the whole world to see: an image of a Taiwan flag crushed by an industrial press, and the horrifying warning that “it’s closer than you think.” All with the seal of authenticity that only a reputable international media outlet can give. The Economist turned what looks like a pastiche of a poster for a grim horror movie into a truth everyone can digest, accept, and use to support exactly the opinion China wants you to have: It is over and done, Taiwan is doomed. Four years after inaccurately naming Taiwan the most dangerous place on
Wherever one looks, the United States is ceding ground to China. From foreign aid to foreign trade, and from reorganizations to organizational guidance, the Trump administration has embarked on a stunning effort to hobble itself in grappling with what his own secretary of state calls “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.” The problems start at the Department of State. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asserted that “it’s not normal for the world to simply have a unipolar power” and that the world has returned to multipolarity, with “multi-great powers in different parts of the
President William Lai (賴清德) recently attended an event in Taipei marking the end of World War II in Europe, emphasizing in his speech: “Using force to invade another country is an unjust act and will ultimately fail.” In just a few words, he captured the core values of the postwar international order and reminded us again: History is not just for reflection, but serves as a warning for the present. From a broad historical perspective, his statement carries weight. For centuries, international relations operated under the law of the jungle — where the strong dominated and the weak were constrained. That
On the eve of the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) made a statement that provoked unprecedented repudiations among the European diplomats in Taipei. Chu said during a KMT Central Standing Committee meeting that what President William Lai (賴清德) has been doing to the opposition is equivalent to what Adolf Hitler did in Nazi Germany, referencing ongoing investigations into the KMT’s alleged forgery of signatures used in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party legislators. In response, the German Institute Taipei posted a statement to express its “deep disappointment and concern”
RSS