The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed gratitude to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for his support of Taiwan.
“Based on the firm and friendly bilateral relations, Taiwan will continue its cooperation with the US in terms of regional and global affairs,” the ministry said. “Taiwan will actively seek to take part in international activities to contribute to the world.”
Taiwan will do its share to safeguard its own security and will work closely with the US and other like-minded countries to protect regional peace and stability, it added.
Photo: Bloomberg
The ministry made the statement after Pompeo at the second US-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue in Washington on Friday reaffirmed “strong ties with a democratic Taiwan.”
“I reiterated the US policy has not changed and that we are concerned about China’s increasing efforts to coerce others, constraining Taiwan’s international space,” Pompeo said.
In response to Chinese Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe’s (魏鳳和) remark at the meeting that Beijing would defend its claim over Taiwan “at any cost,” as Washington did during the US Civil War, if Taiwan were to “secede” from China, the Mainland Affairs Council yesterday said that Taiwanese would not accept China’s increasing political and military pressure to terrorize the nation, nor its threat to annex Taiwan by force.
China has become the greatest threat to peace and security in the Taiwan Strait and the developments of cross-strait ties, the council said, adding that the international community should recognize the hegemonic mindset ingrained in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Taiwan is a sovereign nation and has never been a part of China, the council said.
The CCP made a botched analogy that departed from historical facts, as the relationship between Taiwan and China is different from that between the Confederacy and the Union, the council said.
The council also expressed its gratitude for the support that the US and other nations have given Taiwan.
It drew the international community’s attention to China’s history of human rights violations and its hegemonic mindset “fueled by a perpetual desire to expand and invade,” which the council said is a source of tension in the Asia-Pacific region and could negatively affect international order.
“Taiwan, as a responsible stakeholder in upholding peace in the Taiwan Strait and in maintaining regional security, seeks to leverage its cooperation with the US and other like-minded countries, while continuing to defend its sovereignty, dignity, freedom and democratic values,” the council said.
Taiwan would also keep a close eye on China’s human rights violations and its efforts to gain hegemony over other nations, it said.
China should engage in dialogue with Taiwan instead of browbeating it if the two sides are to overcome their differences, it added.
Additional reporting by Lu Yi-hsuan and CNA
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
‘SALAMI-SLICING’: Beijing’s ‘gray zone’ tactics around the Pratas Islands have been slowly intensifying, with the PLA testing Taiwan’s responses and limits, an expert said The Ministry of National Defense yesterday condemned an intrusion by a Chinese drone into the airspace of the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) as a serious disruption of regional peace. The ministry said it detected the Chinese surveillance and reconnaissance drone entering the southwestern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone early yesterday, and it approached the Pratas Islands at 5:41am. The ministry said it immediately notified the garrison stationed in the area to enhance aerial surveillance and alert levels, and the drone was detected in the islands’ territorial airspace at 5:44am, maintaining an altitude outside the effective range of air-defense weaponry. Following
RSS