A decision by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to remove the Republic of China (ROC) flag from a thank-you tweet to countries that offered support in the wake of Friday’s massive earthquake was due to pressure from China, which was regrettable, top officials said yesterday.
While Erdogan did not name the countries and organizations that reached out to Turkey after the magnitude 7 quake on Saturday, he posted pictures of their flags, but the tweet was later taken down and replaced with a new one that did not include the ROC flag.
Turkey maintains diplomatic ties with China.
Photo: Screen grab from Twitter
“According to information obtained by our representative office in Turkey, it was due to China’s meddling and pressure,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) told reporters in front of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei attending a legislative hearing.
He said Taiwan, as a nation that upholds human rights, would continue to provide humanitarian assistance to other countries that need help, such as the Philippines and Vietnam after recent devastating typhoons.
“We condemn China’s regrettable intervention and repression on a matter of humanitarian assistance that has no political implications,” Wu said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said the issue showed that the Chinese government was “narrow-minded,” as it was normal for a country to express appreciation to others that offer support in times of crisis.
“What China did was try to restrict Taiwan’s international space,” Su said on the sidelines of a ceremony to commend government agencies providing open data.
In the face of such repression, Taiwanese should realize that Taiwan can only hold its place in the international community by standing on its own feet, he said.
The overall death toll from Friday’s quake reached 87 yesterday, after search-and-rescue teams found more bodies amid toppled buildings in Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city.
Close to 1,000 people were injured, mostly in Turkey, by the quake, which was centered in the Aegean Sea northeast of the Greek island of Samos.
The tremors were felt across western Turkey, as well as in the Greek capital, Athens. Hundreds of aftershocks have followed.
In other developments, the Ministry of National Defense said that Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft yesterday entered Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone on eight separate occasions, the 32nd day such incursions have occurred since the middle of September.
The Chinese aircraft involved were one Y-8 marine patrol plane, one Y-8 tactical reconnaissance aircraft, two Su-30 jets, two J-16 fighters and two J-10 jets, the defense ministry said.
The air force scrambled planes to monitor the Chinese aircraft, issuing radio warnings and mobilizing air defense assets before the Chinese planes left the air defense identification zone, it said.
It was the ninth consecutive day of incursions and the 32nd day on which such incursions have taken place since Sept. 16, a day before the defense ministry began regularly publishing details of Chinese military movements on its Web site.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in