The government yesterday expressed its regret over Sao Tome and Principe’s decision to cut its 19-year-old diplomatic ties with Taiwan, acknowledging that “gambling behavior” by the African nation was prompted by Taipei’s denial of its request for an exorbitant amount of financial aid.
Speaking at an impromptu news conference in Taipei, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) said that to safeguard the nation’s dignity, Taiwan would immediately cut its diplomatic ties with Sao Tome and Principe, shutter its embassy and halt any cooperative programs with the African nation.
“Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in May 1997, Taipei has assisted Sao Tome and Principe in promoting national development, with our bilateral cooperation touching upon the areas of public health, medicine, agriculture, basic infrastructure, energy and education,” Lee said.
Photo: CNA
Singling out Taiwan’s antimalarial scheme in the African nation, Lee said thanks to continuous efforts by Taiwan’s malaria prevention counseling delegation, malaria incidence in Sao Tome and Principe fell from 50 percent in 2003 to 1.01 percent last year.
Despite Taipei’s determination to do its utmost to help its diplomatic allies promote national development, Lee said Sao Tome and Principe’s financial hole is simply too deep for Taiwan to deal with.
“Accordingly, it disregarded its nearly 20-year friendship with us and approached both sides of the Taiwan Strait to seek the highest bidder. We regret and deplore Sao Tome and Principe’s reckless and unfriendly decision,” Lee said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
He added that the incident would not cease Taipei’s resolve to expand the nation’s international space and push its “steadfast diplomacy.”
Asked to confirm media reports that Sao Tome and Principe had asked the government for NT$6.4 billion (US$199.9 million), Lee declined to reveal the actual amount.
“It did ask for an astronomical number, but we refused to play the checkbook-diplomacy game,” Lee said.
“We would rather initiate programs that actually improve the welfare of the people of Sao Tome and Principe. The African nation’s need for money to fill its financial hole is neither Taiwan’s responsibility, nor is it something we are willing to do,” Lee added.
Asked whether Beijing had attempted to lure Sao Tome and Principe with money, Lee said the government did not have that information, but it was regrettable that Beijing would take advantage of the African nation’s financial position to consolidate its “one China” principle.
Lee also denied the severance of ties was due to the President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) refusal to adhere to the so-called “1992 consensus,” which refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
“Frankly speaking, if we look at the case of the Gambia, which broke its diplomatic ties with Taiwan in November 2013 and established a formal relationship with Beijing in March this year, that all occurred when the precondition of the ‘1992 consensus’ was met,” Lee said, referring to then-president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) adherence to the “1992 consensus.”
On the possibility that a domino effect could be set off with the nation’s other diplomatic allies, particularly the Vatican, Lee said given the nation’s diplomatic situation, that pressure would be omnipresent.
Nevertheless, the Vatican, unlike secular nations, does not require financial aid, Lee said.
Meanwhile, the Mainland Affairs Council yesterday issued a strongly worded statement denouncing Beijing resorting to “checkbook diplomacy” in attempting to reinforce its “one China” policy and inducing Sao Tome and Principe to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
“We hereby express our strong discontent and regret over the incident, which has hurt the feelings of Taiwanese, destabilized the Taiwan Strait and runs counter to Beijing’s oft-stated goal of pushing for the peaceful development of cross-strait relations,” the council said.
Stressing that the government has repeatedly demonstrated its goodwill since the Tsai administration took office in May, the council said it disapproved of China’s rigid mindset and its return to the “old path of confrontation,” urging Beijing to solemnly contemplate the possible consequences of its actions.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
‘COMING MENACINGLY’: The CDC advised wearing a mask when visiting hospitals or long-term care centers, on public transportation and in crowded indoor venues Hospital visits for COVID-19 last week increased by 113 percent to 41,402, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it encouraged people to wear a mask in three public settings to prevent infection. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks, and 102 severe COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths were confirmed last week, both the highest weekly numbers this year. CDC physician Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) said the youngest person hospitalized due to the disease this year was reported last week, a one-month-old baby, who does not
RSS