The Formosa Club — a coalition of Taiwan friendship groups — on Tuesday congratulated Vice President William Lai (賴清德) on his victory in Saturday’s presidential election and voiced concern over apparent Chinese involvement in Nauru severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Nauru switched recognition to China two days after Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections, which the Formosa Club said in a statement was based on Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of China, a misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758.
The incident “highlights the fact that China has utilized the distorted interpretation of this resolution to isolate Taiwan internationally,” wrote 25 cochairs of the club, which comprises cross-party European and Canadian legislators.
Photo: Reuters
“We express grave concern over China’s manipulation and weaponization of UN resolutions to advance its expansionist agenda,” they wrote.
The timing of Nauru’s decision shows “China’s deliberate suppression and intimidation against Taiwan’s democratic process,” and threatens the regional stability and international order, they said.
The statement condemned Beijing’s use of “methods contrary to the principles of the rule of law and good governance” to expand its influence.
It called for vigilance against any negative effects.
“In solidarity with the people of Taiwan, we commend their courage and unwavering commitment to upholding democracy on the front line,” the statement said.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked the club for supporting the nation with concrete actions, adding that “democratic Taiwan is not afraid of suppression.”
In other news, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday told CNBC that China’s increasingly aggressive strategy to suppress Taiwan in the past few years is against its own interests.
Blinken reiterated the importance of maintaining cross-strait peace and stability.
Beijing’s attempts to exert economic, military and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan have “actually been totally counterproductive to their interests,” Blinken told CNBC’s Squawk on the Street program in Davos, Switzerland, during a trip to attend the World Economic Forum.
Through Saturday’s elections, Taiwan has set a “great example” of a robust democracy “not just for the region, but for the entire world,” he said.
After his congratulatory statement to Lai was met with strong criticism from China, Blinken “made very clear” to a senior Chinese official in Washington that the US has long maintained its “one China” policy and is “standing resolutely for maintaining the status quo,” he said.
“China has to make decisions about what it will do and what it won’t do,” he added.
The US and its allies around the world have been pursuing clear objectives of the situation across the Taiwan Strait — maintaining peace and stability, opposing changes to the “status quo” and calling for the peaceful resolution of any dispute, he said.
“There’s a reason that that matters,” namely that 50 percent of the world’s commerce passes through the Taiwan Strait every day and “the semiconductors made in Taiwan are powering the world in every conceivable way,” he said.
Any disruption to this would have “repercussions for everyone around the world,” he said.
Blinken said that he is “not going to speculate” about whether China would pursue a takeover of Taiwan, adding that the US has been clear with both sides across the strait that “maintaining peace and stability” is its priority.
Although he might not meet with the Chinese delegation in Davos, Blinken said that the US and China have “ongoing, high-level communication” following the positive outcome achieved by the meeting of their presidents in San Francisco in November last year.
The US is to keep up with the efforts to avoid miscalculations and miscommunication, he added.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2