The world should denounce the actions of Chinese embassy staffers in Fiji against a Taiwanese diplomat during a National Day celebration in Suva, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday as it thanked the Fijian government for its help after the Oct. 8 incident.
Two Chinese diplomats tried to force their way into a celebration held by the Taipei Trade Office in Fiji at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva on Oct. 8, and a Taiwanese diplomat who tried to stop them taking photographs suffered a head injury.
MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news briefing that the ministry had reported the incident to Fijian police, who are investigating it together with the Fijian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Asked if MOFA would file a lawsuit against the Chinese diplomats, Ou said that filing a police report was the first step, and the ministry has prepared related documentation if further action is needed.
China’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy, which has engendered ill feeling from many countries, has become “gangster diplomacy,” but it keeps telling lies to cover up other lies it has told, she said.
Other nations should jointly denounce the Chinese embassy’s actions, as what happened to Taiwan might happen to them, she said.
Taiwan is a “peace-loving country” that invites people to events around the world for Double Ten National Day, and it would continue to do so, she said.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) told lawmakers on Monday that the incident is complicated, because the Fijian government wanted to downplay it.
The English-language Fiji Times yesterday cited Fijian Acting Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu as saying that the police “will not be conducting further investigations” as the case is being handled at diplomatic level, as agreed by all parties involved.
Asked about Tudravu’s comment, Ou said the incident involves diplomatic concerns, and the Fijian government has negotiated between Taiwan and China, adding that Taipei and Suva maintain smooth communications.
Later in the day, MOFA issued a statement saying that the Fijian foreign ministry had dealt fairly with the incident and protected the Taipei office’s rights, which it respected.
It thanked the Fijian government for promising to send personnel to assist at the Taipei office’s future public events.
Premier Su Tseng-chang said earlier in the day that the world needed to see what China was capable of.
“China’s officials posted overseas are acting like hooligans; beating people is not acceptable,” he told reporters.
However, the issue was hard to deal with because the Chinese diplomats in Fiji have diplomatic immunity, Su said.
“However, we must appeal to the international community with the relevant evidence,” he added.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) supports all the measures taken by MOFA, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) quoted her as saying.
MOFA came in for some criticism by lawmakers yesterday.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) voiced concern that people in Taiwan first heard of the incident after it was reported by foreign media.
MOFA should reflect on its handling of the incident, Lin said.
The caucus would ask KMT Legislator Lu Yu-ling (呂玉玲), one of the conveners of the Foreign and National Defense Committee, to arrange for Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) to deliver a special report on the incident, Lin said.
If China refuses to acknowledge the existence of the Republic of China (ROC), the two sides of the Taiwan Strait could eliminate all exchanges without seeking further communication, he said.
Cross-strait peace and stability rely on the joint efforts of the two sides, so Taiwan should make its appeal that the so-called “one China” includes the ROC’s assertion, he said.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) questioned why MOFA did not discuss the incident until it was reported by foreign media 11 days later.
Jang also condemned the actions of the Chinese diplomats, saying that they would not help advance cross-strait peace.
Additional reporting by Yang Chun-hui, Hsieh Chun-lin and Reuters
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
RSS