An Iranian newspaper on Saturday said that Taiwan has a “legal right” to independence, in an apparent reaction to China siding with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a diplomatic row over three islands in the Strait of Hormuz that Iran also claims.
The Arman Daily’s front page story, titled “Taiwan Independence: A Legal Right,” said Beijing would have to accept Taiwan’s independence despite attempts to suppress it by force.
The article gained international attention after Iranian commentator Maysam Bizaer posted about it on Twitter.
Photo: screen grab from the Arman Daily Web site
It came after a joint statement of the 2022 China-Arab States Summit said that participants “affirmed their support for all peaceful efforts, including the initiative and endeavors of the United Arab Emirates ... to reach a peaceful solution to the issue of the three islands; Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa, through bilateral negotiations in accordance with the rules of international law, and to resolve this issue in accordance with international legitimacy.”
The then-Imperial Iranian Navy seized the islands in November 1971 after the British Royal Navy stopped patrolling near them, sparking a decades-long territorial dispute between Iran and the UAE.
In Iran, the joint statement was widely perceived as a slight, drawing a diplomatic protest from Tehran and condemnations in the Iranian press.
Bizaer’s Twitter post cited several headlines in Iranian newspapers, including “China Against Iran,” “What’s China’s Plans for Middle East,” “The Chinese Shock” and “China’s Not-So-Friendly Message for Iran.”
Taiwanese online commentator Emmy Hu (胡采蘋) on Tuesday shared Bizaer’s tweet on Facebook, saying: “Something must have happened for us to win prizes while lying down.”
“All of this is because the Arabs laid claim to three of Iran’s islands and then China backed this claim by playing dumb to ingratiate itself with the Saudis, pissing off Iran,” she said, apparently confusing the UAE with Saudi Arabia.
“Kudos to Daddy Xi for making the world more and more pro Taiwanese independence,” she wrote, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Tehran viewed Beijing’s joint statement with the Arab states as “a betrayal,” Hu wrote in her post, which received 3,500 mostly positive responses from Facebook users.
“The boat of [Sino-Iranian] friendship sure capsized quick,” one comment read.
Meanwhile, Beijing on Tuesday sent Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua (胡春華), who was recently removed from the top echelons of power, to meet Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a sign that Beijing is keeping its distance from the Middle Eastern nation as it deals with widespread unrest.
Hu told Iranian officials that China “will not waver in its determination to develop their comprehensive strategic partnership,” the official Xinhua news agency reported.
“China firmly supports Iran in opposing external interference and safeguarding its sovereignty, territorial integrity and national dignity,” it cited Hu as saying.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS