China’s foreign influence campaigns have damaged democratic institutions, but Taiwan will continue to work with the US and like-minded partners to counter Beijing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
The ministry made the statement in response to a speech by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison on Wednesday.
Pompeo warned about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence campaigns targeting US states.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
For example, he said that Wisconsin Senate President Roger Roth earlier this year received a letter from Wu Ting (吳婷) — wife of Chinese Consul General in Chicago Zhao Jian (趙建) — asking him to pass a draft resolution praising China’s response to COVID-19.
Although Roth did not accept her request, these types of solicitations are happening across the world and in statehouses throughout the US, Pompeo said.
CCP campaigns targeting state-level officials have been in full swing for years and are increasing in intensity, Pompeo said.
“Much of that activity revolves around pressing state governments not to recognize, trade with or otherwise engage with Taiwan,” he said, citing the case of a New York City Police officer and US Army reservist who this week was charged with allegedly acting as an agent of China.
Pompeo urged senators to scrutinize their state pension funds and ensure their state colleges “aren’t improperly influenced by CCP-linked organizations like the Confucius Institutes and that pro-democracy students from China, Hong Kong or Taiwan studying in Wisconsin are not harassed.”
“We want them here. Make sure they’re not being threatened by pro-Beijing elements on your campuses,” he added.
China has been using any means it can to suppress Taiwan’s international space, while its foreign influence operations that threaten democratic institutions have sparked concerns from the US and other democracies, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement.
Taiwan and the US share common values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rules of the market, and the ministry will continue to work with the US and other like-minded partners to counter the Chinese government’s infiltration, she said.
In other news, Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and Representative to Germany Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) have been referred to as “ambassadors” by local media.
That shows that in the eyes of free and democratic societies, Taiwan’s representative offices deserve to be called “embassies,” even though there is a long way to go to make that a reality, Shieh wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
Shieh said that he was called “ambassador” by a German host of an online program.
He had helped arrange for Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳) to appear on the show and discuss Taiwan’s response to COVID-19, he said.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said that as the nation’s performances in various areas have won global acclaim, more people and media outlets in other countries have referred to Taiwan’s representatives as “ambassadors” or used Taiwan in the names of representative offices.
The positive development is a product of the concerted efforts of Taiwanese, he said, adding that stable growth would help the nation win more friends and involvement in the international space.
Additional reporting by Huang Hsin-po
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS