‘TURNING POINT’: The US must engage with China ‘realistically and on our terms,’ which would include ‘more enthusiastic ties’ with Taiwan, Mike Pompeo said
The economic “status quo,” which benefits China, is changing, presenting opportunities for closer cooperation between Taiwan and the US, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo told a business forum in Kaohsiung yesterday. Pompeo is visiting Taiwan for the second time this year to attend the Global Taiwan Business Forum, organized by the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). In a speech before more than 300 business representatives at the Kaohsiung Marriott Hotel, Pompeo discussed shifting relations in Southeast Asia driven by aggressive Chinese conduct. Beijing’s actions have changed the region and “brought those who prefer peace and commerce even more closely together,” he said. Pompeo said that as secretary of state he and his department grappled with some fundamental questions about long-standing US policy toward China. “America must admit a hard truth, a truth that should guide us in the years and decades ahead,” he said. “If we want a free 21st century and not a Chinese century, the century which [Chinese President] Xi Jinping [習近平] dreams of, the old paradigm of blind engagement must end.” The US must instead engage with China “realistically and on our terms,” which would include a “deep and far more enthusiastic relationship” with Taiwan, he said. This relationship includes security, but also the trade and economic ties on which a security relationship can be built, he said, touting tariffs and export controls on Chinese goods put in place under former US president Donald Trump. “The result is not a decoupling from China by the United States and Taiwan, but a turning point,” he said. “There was nothing free nor fair” about the US-China trade relationship, nor is free trade even possible with a country that does not respect the basic rule of law, human rights or intellectual property, he said. “The good news here today is that Taiwan is completely different.
Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe yesterday was given a state funeral that was full of military pomp and surrounded by throngs of mourners as well as by widespread protests. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that the publicly financed ceremony was a well-deserved honor for Japan’s longest-serving modern political leader, but it has deeply split public opinion. The event was attended by US Vice President Kamala Harris, Japanese Crown Prince Akishino and other foreign and Japanese dignitaries, including a delegation from Taiwan. It began with Abe’s widow, Akie Abe, in a black formal kimono, walking slowly behind Kishida into the funeral venue, carrying an urn in a wooden box wrapped in a purple cloth with gold stripes. Soldiers in white uniforms took Shinzo Abe’s ashes and placed them on a pedestal filled with white and yellow chrysanthemums and decorations. Attendants stood while a military band played the Kimigayo national anthem, then observed a moment of silence before a video was shown praising Shinzo Abe’s life in politics. It included his 2006 parliamentary speech vowing to build a “beautiful Japan,” his visits to disaster-hit northern Japan after the March 2011 tsunami and his 2016 Super Mario impersonation in Rio de Janeiro to promote the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Kishida, in a 12-minute eulogy, praised Shinzo Abe as a politician with a clear vision for post-World War II economic growth who promoted national security, the development of Japan and the world and a “free and open Indo-Pacific” as a counter to China’s rise. Kishida said that Shinzo Abe would be remembered not just as the nation’s longest-serving leader but for what he achieved, and he pledged to carry on his policies for Japan and the region. Tokyo was under high security for the state funeral, especially near the venue, the Nippon Budokan. At a protest in downtown Tokyo, thousands of people marched
The domestic mask mandate for COVID-19 prevention would not be lifted in the next few weeks, but it might be eased in November at the earliest, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 46,608 new local cases. The Chinese-language Mirror Media yesterday published an interview with Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, in which it reported that the mask mandate might be eased in November if daily local caseloads are consistently low. At a CECC news conference, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division, said that as the local outbreak of the Omicron BA.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 is still at a peak, the mask regulations would not be revised much in the next few weeks to help prevent overwhelming Taiwan’s healthcare capacity. The CECC regularly reviews COVID-19 restrictions, referencing the policies in other countries and discussing how restrictions can be gradually lifted, including easing mask rules in outdoor and indoor settings. As to whether the mandate might be eased in November, Lo said it is not certain at this point. However, the CECC would pay close attention to the local COVID-19 situation after quarantine requirements for people arriving in Taiwan are scrapped from next month. CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, said that 45,608 new local cases, 242 imported cases and 28 deaths were confirmed yesterday. The daily caseload in the nation increased by 2.5 percent from Tuesday last week, he said, adding that BA.5 cases are still at a plateau. New Taipei City reported the highest number of cases, with 9,019, followed by Taichung (with 6,154), Taipei (5,125), Taoyuan (4,220), Kaohsiung (4,186), Tainan (3,033), Changhua County (2,418), and fewer than 1,300 cases in the 15 other administrative regions. Meanwhile, Lo said that after
A NASA spacecraft on Monday rammed an asteroid at blistering speed in an unprecedented dress rehearsal for if a killer rock one day menaces Earth. The slam occurred at an asteroid 11.3 million kilometers away, with the spacecraft named Dart plowing into it at 22,500kph. Scientists expected the impact to carve out a crater, hurl streams of rocks and dirt into space and, most importantly, alter the asteroid’s orbit. “We have impact,” Mission Control’s Elena Adams announced. Although the impact was immediately obvious, it might take a couple of months to determine how much the asteroid’s path was changed. The US$325 million mission was the first attempt to shift the position of an asteroid or any other natural object in space. “As far as we can tell, our first planetary defense test was a success,” Adams later told a news conference. “I think Earthlings should sleep better. Definitely, I will.” Monday’s target was a 160m asteroid named Dimorphos. It is a moonlet of Didymos, Greek for twin, a fast-spinning asteroid five times bigger. The pair are in orbit around the sun, making them ideal test candidates. Launched in November last year, the craft navigated to its target using new technology developed by Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory. Dart’s onboard camera, a key part of this smart navigation system, caught sight of Dimorphos barely an hour before impact. With an image beaming back to Earth every second, Adams and other ground controllers in Laurel, Maryland, watched with growing excitement as Dimorphos loomed larger in the field of view alongside its bigger companion. Within minutes, Dimorphos was alone in the pictures. The last image froze on the screen as the radio transmission ended. Flight controllers cheered, hugged one another and exchanged high fives. “Normally, losing signal from a spacecraft is a very bad thing, but in this case, it was the ideal outcome,” NASA program scientist
IF THE CHIPS ARE DOWN: The US secretary of state warned that a disruption to the supply of Taiwanese semiconductors would play havoc with the global economy
If Taiwan were attacked, the global economy would face devastation, as that is where most of the world’s semiconductors are produced, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday. In an interview that aired on the 60 Minutes television program, Blinken was asked whether instability across the Taiwan Strait would be felt around the world. Blinken said that China has been increasingly aggressive against Taiwan, posing a threat to peace and stability in the region, while economically the world would feel the effects of such aggression. Blinken was interviewed for the program after meeting with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Friday. The US has invested heavily in its semiconductor capacity, with US firms designing chips that are primarily produced in Taiwan, he said. “Taiwan itself, were anything to happen, it is where virtually all the semiconductors are made,” Blinken said. “If that’s disrupted, the effects that that would have on the global economy could be devastating.” In an interview that aired on the previous Sunday on the same program, US President Joe Biden said that the US would defend Taiwan “if in fact there was an unprecedented attack.” It was the fourth time Biden implied the US would help Taiwan, although each time it has been followed by a clarification from administration officials who seemed to walk back his comments. When Blinken was asked whether Wang requested clarification of Biden’s remarks when they met, he said they had a conversion about the two approaches toward Taiwan. “I reiterated what the president has said, and what he’s said clearly and consistently — our continued adherence to the ‘one China’ policy, our determination that the differences be resolved peacefully,” Blinken said. “Our insistence that peace and stability be maintained in the Taiwan Strait, and our deep
The UK is determined to work with its allies to ensure that Taiwan can defend itself, British Prime Minister Liz Truss said on Sunday, a pledge that drew expressions of gratitude from Taipei. “What I’ve been clear about is that all of our allies need to make sure Taiwan is able to defend itself, and that is very, very important,” Truss said in a CNN interview, when asked whether the UK was willing to match the US’ pledge last week to defend Taiwan militarily in the event of an attack by China. Truss said her government was working with its G7 allies, including the US, Japan and Canada, to reduce “strategic dependency” on China and to ensure they have a “common response” to the threat of Beijing’s military aggression. “We need to learn the lessons from Ukraine,” she said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the nation. “The fact is, the free world didn’t do enough to counter Russian aggression early enough and Putin was emboldened to start this appalling war, and we can’t see that situation happen in other parts of the world,” Truss said. CNN host Jake Tapper raised the Taiwan situation with Truss after US President Joe Biden the previous Sunday in a television interview said that US forces would defend Taiwan “if in fact there was an unprecedented attack.” Asked about Truss’ remarks, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said that Taiwan is grateful to Truss for her pledge, and for continuing to stand with Taiwan. When the prime minister was British secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs she also expressed support for Taiwan on several occasions, Ou said. In a speech in April, Truss called on NATO to be ready to tackle global threats by working with Japan and Australia to ensure order in the Pacific. “We
Japan’s Sankei Shimbun yesterday published an article by Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) commemorating the life of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, whose state funeral is to take place today. Abe, the longest-serving prime minister in modern Japanese history, was fatally shot at close range during a campaign rally in Nara on July 8. He was 67. The best way to commemorate Abe would be for democratic nations to unite and “safeguard the shared value of freedom and democracy,” Wu wrote. Abe was not afraid of attacks from China, as he repeatedly showed “sincere care and firm support for Taiwan as Japanese prime minister,” which made his passing painful for Taiwanese, he wrote. Taiwanese would always remember Abe’s remark that “a Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency,” as well as his concern and prompt assistance when natural disasters struck Taiwan, he added. Former legislative speakers Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) and Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday departed for Japan to attend Abe’s funeral. They are to be accompanied by Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) at the ceremony at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. The delegation would offer condolences on behalf of the Taiwanese authorities and citizens, and convey the message that Taiwan would “continue to walk side by side with Japan” to “defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” the Presidential Office said on Sept. 15. In related news, US Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Japan as the head of a US delegation to attend Abe’s funeral. In a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo yesterday, Harris reaffirmed the US’ commitment to Japan’s defense. They also condemned China’s actions in the Taiwan Strait. “They discussed the People’s Republic of China’s recent aggressive and irresponsible provocations in the Taiwan Strait, and reaffirmed the importance of preserving peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” the White
‘ESSENTIAL CONCERN’: Giorgia Meloni says that she would reverse course on Italy’s support for China’s Belt and Road Initiative and strengthen ties with Taiwan
Italy yesterday took a sharp turn to the right after Giorgia Meloni’s euroskeptic populist party swept to victory in general elections, putting the Taiwan-friendly politician on course to become the first female Italian prime minister. Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, which has neo-fascist roots, won 26 percent in Sunday’s election, according to partial results. It leads a coalition set to win a majority in parliament and install the most right-wing government since World War II. Her success represents a seismic change in Italy — a founding member of the EU and the eurozone’s third-largest economy — and for the EU. “Meloni takes Italy,” read the headline in Repubblica, while editorialist Stefano Folli said that Italy “awakes this morning very changed.” “It is the first time in decades that the country’s political face has transformed so completely. We don’t know yet whether its destiny in Europe has changed, too, but that is the first of many questions” now facing Italians, he said. Meloni, who campaigned on a motto of “God, country and family,” is expected to become Italy’s first female prime minister, although the process of forming a new government could take weeks. At a time of soaring inflation, a looming energy crisis and the war in Ukraine, the 45-year-old sought to reassure those worried about her lack of experience and radical past. Meloni said voters had sent a “clear message” of support for her party to lead their right-wing coalition to power. “If we are called to govern this nation we will do it for all Italians. We will do it with the aim of uniting people, of enhancing what unites them rather than what divides them,” she told reporters. In a recent interview with Taiwan’s Central News Agency, Meloni said that she would reverse course on her nation’s support for China’s Belt and Road Initiative and strengthen ties with
The strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year left at least six people dead, authorities said yesterday, after heavy rain and fierce winds battered the nation’s most populous island. Typhoon Noru toppled trees, knocked out power and flooded low-lying communities as it swept across Luzon on Sunday and yesterday. There have so far been no reports of widespread severe damage to buildings from the storm, which hit the nation as a super typhoon. Five people suffered minor injuries and several others are missing, disaster officials said. “I think that we may have gotten lucky at least this time, a little bit,” Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr told a briefing with disaster agencies. Five rescuers were killed after they were sent to help flooded residents in San Miguel municipality in Bulacan province, near the capital, Manila. Lieutenant-Colonel Romualdo Andres, chief of police in San Miguel, said the rescuers were wading through floodwaters when a wall collapsed, sending them into the fast current. “Our house was swept away by the flood, it’s gone,” Willie Ortega, 59, said in San Miguel. “We weren’t able to save anything, even the rice to eat, none.” An elderly man died after he was hit by a landslide in Burdeos municipality on the Polillo Islands, part of Quezon province, where the storm made landfall, Garner Jimenez of the local civil defense office said. Noru smashed into the archipelago nation on Sunday after an unprecedented “explosive intensification” in wind speeds, the state weather forecaster said earlier. It made landfall about 100km northeast of Manila, before weakening to a typhoon as it crossed a mountain range, coconut plantations and rice fields. More than 74,000 people were evacuated from their homes before the storm hit, as the meteorology agency warned that heavy rain could cause “serious flooding” in vulnerable areas and trigger landslides. However, yesterday there was no sign of
‘ABSURD’: UN Resolution 2758 expelled the Chiang Kai-Shek government without mentioning Taipei, something the Chinese minister did not acknowledge, Taipei said
Taiwan yesterday criticized Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) for “intentionally misinterpreting” a 1971 UN resolution to misrepresent Taiwan’s status to the global community. In his address on Saturday to the UN General Assembly, Wang cited Resolution 2758 as a basis for Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of China. He said that Beijing considers Taiwan an “inseparable part of China’s territory since ancient times.” “Only when China is completely reunified can there be enduring peace across the Taiwan Strait... Any move to obstruct China’s reunification is bound to be crushed by the wheels of history,” Wang said. General Assembly Resolution 2758 ended the concept of “two Chinas” or “one China and one Taiwan,” he said. “The ‘one China’ principle has become the basic norm in international relations and a consensus in the international community,” he said. “When entering into diplomatic relations with China, 181 countries all recognized and have accepted that there is one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China.” In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the resolution transferred China’s seat in the UN from representatives of former president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) government to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) without mention of Taiwan. The resolution did not grant Beijing the right to represent the people or territory of Taiwan in the UN, nor did it say that Taiwan is part of the PRC, it added. Beijing has been purposely and continually making a “twisted and incorrect political interpretation” of historical documents, it said. Linking the resolution with Beijing’s “one China” principle isabsurd, it said, adding that the so-called principle does not represent international consensus. China is resorting to every conceivable means to cut off Taiwan’s international participation and obstruct Taiwan’s opportunities to contribute to the international community, it said. The Mainland Affairs Council also voiced protest against
‘MAXIMUM RESTRAINT’: The Philippines’ candidacy for a UN Security Council seat is based on years of forging peace and paths of cooperation, its president said
Taiwan has thanked Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr for a speech he delivered in New York on Friday, in which he appealed for a peaceful solution to tensions in the Taiwan Strait. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement yesterday that Taiwan remains grateful that the Philippine leader is paying attention to cross-strait peace and stability. The speech demonstrated that Beijing’s intensifying military provocations in the region, over the past two months in particular, are a concern to neighboring countries, the ministry said. It called on the international community to condemn what it called China’s unilateral actions in destabilizing the cross-strait “status quo,” and to jointly prevent the expansion of authoritarianism in the region. In his speech at a meeting of the Asia Society, Marcos said that the Philippines’ candidacy for a temporary seat on the UN Security Council starting from 2027 is “premised on my country’s long years of experience in building peace and forging new paths of cooperation.” “In this context, we are certainly concerned about rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait, just north of the Philippines,” he said. Although Manila is to maintain its diplomatic recognition of Beijing over Taipei, the Philippines would always pursue peaceful resolutions of disputes involving China and Taiwan, Marcos said. “We urge all parties involved to exercise maximum restraint. Dialogue and diplomacy must prevail,” he said. During a question-and-answer session, Marcos was asked by former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, president and CEO of the Asia Society, about his country’s future relations with Japan. Marcos replied that he had recently met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and they discussed a number of issues, including Taiwan. “I think it’s no surprise to anyone that they are terribly, terribly concerned, not only of China, but because of the recent events, we have focused on the Taiwan situation,” he said. “The visit of
China and India at the UN on Saturday called for a negotiated end to the Ukraine war, stopping short of robust support for traditional ally Russia. After a week of pressure at the UN General Assembly, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov spoke from the General Assembly rostrum to deliver a fiery rebuke to Western nations for what he termed a “grotesque” campaign against Russians. However, no major nation has rallied behind Russia, including China, which just days before the February invasion of Ukraine had vowed an “unbreakable” bond with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) called on both Russia and Ukraine to “keep the crisis from spilling over” and from affecting developing countries. “China supports all efforts conducive to the peaceful resolution of the Ukraine crisis. The pressing priority is to facilitate talks for peace,” Wang said. “The fundamental solution is to address the legitimate security concerns of all parties and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture,” he said. During his visit to the UN, Wang met with Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, in their first talks since the war began. Putin earlier this month acknowledged Chinese “concerns” about Ukraine during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). US officials have been heartened by what they see as China’s lack of concrete backing for the war and say that Beijing has declined requests to send military equipment, forcing Russia to rely on North Korea and Iran as its supplies dwindle. China’s reaction to Russia is being closely watched for clues on its approach to Taiwan. India, unlike China, has a warm relationship with the US, but it has historic ties with Russia, its traditional defense supplier. “As the Ukraine conflict continues to rage, we are often asked whose side we are on,” Indian Minister of Foreign Affairs Subrahmanyam
Ukrainian Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Oleksandr Merezhko called Taiwan a “true friend” in an interview published on Saturday. During an interview with US online news outlet Axios, Merezhko said that he realized “China is not our friend” after Beijing described its relationship with the Kremlin as a “friendship without limits.” Taiwan, on the other hand, had placed sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, and had offered Ukraine substantial material support, he said. Merezhko said that Ukrainians were not fooled by China’s attempts to convince Europe that it supports sovereignty and the rule of law, while at the same time expressing support for Russia. Two members of the Ukrainian parliament joined the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance for China Policy last week, the first time Ukrainian representatives have participated. The alliance is an international cross-party group of legislators working to reform how democratic countries approach China, according to its Web site. In its most recent meeting, it discussed China’s military aggression toward Taiwan. “I have experienced living in the Soviet Union for 20 years. I know what it’s like to live in a totalitarian state, which tramples human rights and undermines the world order,” Merezhko said, adding that China is “like the Soviet Union, but more dangerous.” Merezhko also mentioned concerns about China’s treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang. “Genocide is a ... crime against all countries. When China is committing genocide, it is also a crime against Ukraine,” he said. Ukraine’s parliament on Aug. 17 launched the Taiwan Friendship Group, which is led by Merezhko and consists of 15 lawmakers, two-thirds of whom belong to the ruling party. Newsweek magazine reported a few days earlier that the Chinese embassy in Ukraine attempted to thwart the establishment of the group. In response, Merezhko was quoted as saying that China is “trying to dictate what a foreign parliament should do.”
A powerful typhoon shifted and abruptly gained strength yesterday as it blew closer to the northeastern Philippines, prompting evacuations from high-risk villages and the capital, which could be sideswiped by the storm, officials said. Typhoon Noru was swirling at sea about 115km east of Infanta town in Quezon Province, with sustained winds of 195kph and gusts of up to 240kph. While barreling toward the archipelago, Noru changed track southward, pushed down by a high-pressure area to its north. It gained considerable strength, transforming from a storm with sustained winds of 85kph on Saturday into a super typhoon just 24 hours later in an “explosive intensification” at sea, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration head Vicente Malano said. The rapid intensification as it neared land was “unprecedented” storm behavior, weather forecaster Robb Gile said. Thousands of villagers in Quezon Province were evacuated from the typhoon’s path, as well as from mountainside villages that are prone to landslides and flash floods, and in coastal communities that could be hit by tidal surges as high as 3m. “The combined effects of a storm surge and high waves breaking along the coast may cause life-threatening and damaging inundation or flooding,” the weather agency warned. In Manila’s seaside district of Tondo, some residents left their homes with bags of belongings and hurriedly walked to a nearby evacuation center as the sky darkened and rains started to fall. Provincial disaster management head Melchor Avenilla said law enforcers were under orders to forcibly move people who refuse to leave their homes. “So far we’ve been able to do this by just appealing to people,” Avenilla said. The typhoon’s eye could pass about 40km to 50km from metro Manila, “which is nearly a direct hit,” Malano said. Fishing boats and inter-island and cargo ferries were restricted to port as a precaution, the coast guard said. Cargo trucks
‘EXTREMELY CANDID’: Lines of communication need to be open to manage ties and maintain global security, the US secretary of state told his Chinese counterpart
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday called for calm over Taiwan when he met his Chinese counterpart, as cross-strait tensions showed signs of easing a notch. Blinken met for 90 minutes with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, in talks a US official described as “extremely candid” and focused largely on Taiwan. Blinken “stressed that preserving peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is critical to regional and global security and prosperity,” the US Department of State said in a statement. He “discussed the need to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the US-PRC relationship, especially during times of tension,” it added, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China. A State Department official described the exchange as “direct and honest.” The official said that Blinken also renewed US warnings not to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, amid guarded US hopes that Beijing is keeping a distance from Moscow, nominally its ally. Blinken met Wang for the first time since a sit-down in July in Bali, Indonesia, where both appeared optimistic regarding stability. One month later, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, infuriating Beijing, which in response staged military exercises seen as a trial run for an invasion. US President Joe Biden in an interview aired last Sunday said he was ready to intervene militarily if China uses force in Taiwan, once again deviating from decades of US ambiguity. In the meeting with Blinken, Wang accused the US of “sending very wrong and dangerous signals” that encourage “Taiwan independence,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a readout. Wang told Blinken that China wished for “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan and warned that “the more rampant ‘Taiwan independence’ activities are, the less likely a peaceful solution would be,” it
‘SELF-DETERMINATION’: Tuvalu and Belize, among others, praised Taiwan’s economic and social progress, and called for Taiwan’s admission to the UN at its general assembly
The leaders of the EU and of Taiwan’s four diplomatic allies on Friday expressed concern over the stability of the Taiwan Strait and voiced support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the UN during a meeting of the UN General Assembly. The 77th UN General Assembly which began on Tuesday and ends tomorrow, is its first in-person session since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. European Council President Charles Michel said the EU calls for maritime security and the preservation of stability in the Taiwan Strait. Michel said the bloc recognizes Beijing’s “one China” principle, but “will not close our eyes to the violations of human rights” in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. “We want emerging powers, including China, to participate sincerely in the collective efforts for peace and development,” he said. Michel’s remarks came just two days after US President Joe Biden said that Washington seeks to “uphold peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” Taiwan’s Caribbean ally Saint Lucia also expressed concern over tensions in the Taiwan Strait at the General Assembly. St Lucian Prime Minister Philip Pierre said the recent escalation of military tensions in the Taiwan Strait had “threatened regional and international peace and security.” “Saint Lucia calls upon those responsible to observe the UN rules on peaceful settlement of disputes and respect for the territorial integrity and political independence of all countries,” he said. Pierre also championed “the meaningful participation of Taiwan in the organs and agencies of the United Nations,” adding that Taiwanese “ought to be allowed to continue their chosen path to economic, social and cultural development and to confirm their right to self-determination.” St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew stated his country’s “unswerving support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UN system.” “Taiwan has been a long-standing friend and a partner for sustainable development,” he said. He added that the UN would be “stronger” in
COVID-19 vaccinations on Friday soared 66 percent above the daily average, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, after it on Thursday announced a two-phase plan for reopening borders. The center said it would ease its “3+4” quarantine requirement and mandatory COVID-19 testing for arrivals on Sept. 29, before scrapping mandatory quarantines for arrivals and allowing international group tours from Oct. 13. After the announcement, many people began booking international flights, and the daily number of COVID-19 vaccines administered increased sharply to 45,713 doses compared with last week’s daily average of about 27,000 doses, the center said. Some countries still require international travelers to be vaccinated to enter or be exempt from quarantine. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said 38,157 new local and 214 imported COVID-19 cases as well as 51 deaths were confirmed yesterday. The daily caseload is about 4.1 percent lower than a day earlier, and 3.1 percent lower than on Saturday last week, he said. Among the deceased, 48 had chronic diseases and 43 had not received a booster shot, the CECC said. Among the severe cases was a three-year-old boy, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Aug. 16, did not have a chronic illness and was not vaccinated, Chuang said. The boy on Sept. 16 again began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, including abdominal pain and vomiting, and on Monday last week developed rashes on his face and torso, Chuang said. After he developed pink eye and had low blood pressure, he was admitted to an intensive care unit for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). His condition improved after receiving immunoglobulin therapy, and he was transferred out of intensive care on Friday, Chuang said. There have been 223 cases of severe COVID-19 in children this year, including 142 with MIS-C, 31 with encephalitis, 24 with pneumonia
A continued lack of strategic trust between the US and China could create an “escalatory spiral” that leads to a potential mishap between the two nations at a time when tensions are flaring over Taiwan, Singaporean Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said on Friday. “The key missing ingredient in this relationship, from the perspective of a dispassionate third country, is that there is a lack of strategic trust between the United States and China,” he said in New York at an event hosted by the Asia Society, according to prepared remarks. “I think the ultimate focal point for this is the Taiwan Strait, which is the reddest of red lines for Beijing,” he said. Balakrishnan said he has observed on four separate trips to China in the past year that “attitudes have become more assertive,” with a strong and growing nationalism and more “muscular” actions to defend international interests. “As China’s strategic and economic influence has grown, so has their sense of vulnerability,” given that communist regimes must respond to “the anxieties and the zeitgeist of their own societies,” he said. “There can be no good outcome for us in Asia if our countries are forced into two camps with a line in between,” Balakrishnan said. He spoke on other issues at the meeting. On the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, he said it “very studiously avoids any mention of market access.” “To the extent that it reflects US acknowledgment that there are opportunities out across the Pacific and continued engagement — that is positive,” Balakrishnan said. “Singapore will stand fully shoulder to shoulder on this endeavor. But you need to do more — that is the message.” “Foreign policy and trade policy begins at home. You have got to embark on the necessary reform and investment in your domestic capacity,” he said. “You need to build up social and
Ukraine said on Friday it would downgrade diplomatic ties with Iran and strip its ambassador of accreditation over what it called Tehran’s “unfriendly” decision to supply Russian forces with drones. Earlier in the day, Ukraine said it had downed four Iranian-made “kamikaze” uncrewed aerial vehicles, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to say that Tehran was harming Ukrainian sovereignty and its citizens. Ukraine and the US have said that Iran has supplied drones to Russia, which Tehran has denied. “Supplying Russia with weapons to wage war against Ukraine is an unfriendly act that deals a serious blow to relations between Ukraine and Iran,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “In response to such an unfriendly act, the Ukrainian side has decided to deprive the ambassador of Iran of his accreditation and also to significantly reduce the number of diplomatic staff of the Iranian embassy in Kyiv.” The message was handed to the acting ambassador, as the permanent envoy, Manouchehr Moradi, is not currently in Ukraine. Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nasser Kanaani “advised” Ukraine to “refrain from being influenced by third parties who seek to destroy relations between the two countries.” Military authorities in southern Ukraine said in a statement they had shot down the Shahed-136 uncrewed aerial vehicles over the sea near the port of Odesa.
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