The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned the Chinese embassy in Fiji over a fracas at its Double Ten National Day event at a Suva hotel, while a lawmaker demanded that the ministry file a lawsuit against Chinese embassy personnel for injuring a Taiwanese diplomat at the event.
The Grubsheet news blog on Sunday and New Zealand-based Asia-Pacific Report Web site yesterday reported that two members of the Chinese embassy in Suva tried to force their way into a celebration held by the Taipei Trade Office in Fiji at the Grand Pacific Hotel on Oct. 8 to take photographs of the 100 people attending the party.
The Chinese assaulted an office staffer who asked them to leave, leaving him needing hospital treatment for a head injury, the reports said.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
The Chinese embassy denied the accusations and said that one of its staffers was injured.
“On that very evening, the staff of the Taipei Trade Office in Fiji acted provocatively against the Chinese embassy staff, who were carrying out their official duties in the public area outside the function venue, causing injuries and damage to one Chinese diplomat,” the embassy said, adding that it has asked Fijian police to investigate.
During a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Mark Ho (何志偉) demanded that the ministry take legal action.
Details of the scuffle were reported locally only after foreign media reported the incident, as the ministry had been handling it in a low-key manner, but it is an “international incident of great severity,” Ho said.
The Chinese embassy should not be able to claim diplomatic immunity, as it only applies to civil cases, and the incident was a criminal case, the lawmaker added.
Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Director-General Larry Tseng (曾瑞利) told Ho that the ministry had filed a complaint with Fijian police, but more evaluations are needed before taking legal action, considering the “complexity and sensitivity” of the incident.
Ho reiterated his demand that the ministry file a lawsuit, adding that such violence should be condemned.
Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said that the Chinese diplomats were forced to leave the reception venue by Fijian police following the confrontation, but they tried to muddy the waters by saying that they were attacked first.
MOFA has asked the Fijian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and police to collect evidence to clarify the facts, and also delivered a stern protest to the Fijian ministry against the Chinese embassy, Ou said in a statement.
In view of the increasing number of provocative actions by Chinese diplomats against Taiwan, MOFA has asked its office in Fiji to stay in close contact with local police as part of efforts to bolster security at other events, she added.
The DPP condemned the Chinese diplomats, with spokeswoman Hsieh Pei-fen (謝佩芬) calling their behavior “violent acts that are a serious breach of civility and the rule of law.”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) also condemned the assault, demanding that Beijing publicly apologize to the injured Taiwanese diplomat and severely punish its diplomats, while calling on the government to lodge a protest against Beijing through the proper channels.
Meanwhile, in Beijing yesterday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) said that Taiwan was playing the victim, as he criticized the flags and cake displayed at the event.
“A false national flag was openly displayed at the scene, the cake was also marked with a false national flag,” Zhao told reporters, adding that “any attempt to sow discord between China and Pacific Island countries using the Taiwan issue will not succeed.”
A Fijian police spokeswoman told Agency France-Presse that a probe was ongoing and officers were working with Fiji’s foreign ministry.
Additional reporting by agencies
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS