President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday said that there is no need for Taiwan and China to target each other and she hoped that the resumption of diplomatic ties between China and the Gambia was not meant as a hostile act.
Tsai, who is also chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party, believes that regional peace and stability and the healthy development of relations across the Taiwan Strait are the shared responsibility of both sides, party spokesman Juan Chao-hsiung (阮昭雄) said.
“The two sides need not target each other for competition in the international community, need not do things that would hurt feelings on both sides, as such actions would not be conducive to the normal development of cross-strait ties,” Tsai said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
She expressed the hope that the resumption of diplomatic relations between China and the Gambia on Thursday was not targeted at Taiwan.
“The DPP’s foreign policy is clear, which is to maintain peace, stability and prosperity with other countries,” Tsai said. “On that basis, Taiwan is willing to contribute positively to the international community, whether in the area of economy, health or humanitarian relief.”
The DPP hopes that through such efforts, Taiwan can win greater support in the international community, Tsai said.
She also said that Taiwan’s diplomatic situation is difficult, and national solidarity is needed to safeguard Taiwan’s international space, freedom and democracy.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Gambia issued a joint statement on Thursday saying that they had re-established official relations after 21 years.
The Gambia had diplomatic ties with the Republic of China until 1974, when it switched to Beijing.
In 1995, the Gambia severed diplomatic relations with China and switched back to Taiwan, but in November 2013 unilaterally broke diplomatic relations with Taiwan again.
The African country then sought to re-establish formal ties with Beiijng, but was rejected until this week.
Many Taiwanese see the move as a warning by Beijing to Tsai, as the resumption has occurred during the power transition in Taiwan, with Tsai to take office on May 20.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) said at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday that the timing of the resumption of diplomatic ties between China and the Gambia was agreed upon by the two sides following consultation.
“The restoration of diplomatic ties between China and the Gambia targets no one... There is no change to our position on promoting peaceful development of cross-strait relations,” Lu said.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for