Members of the US House of Representatives’ Congressional Taiwan Caucus on Friday issued a bilateral statement condemning China’s 22 guidelines targeting Taiwanese as an act that severely threatens regional stability and peace.
Congressional Taiwan Caucus cochairs Ami Bera, Gerald Connolly, Andy Barr and Mario Diaz-Balart said in a statement that “this escalatory move by Beijing represents a significant threat to peace and stability in the region.”
The guidelines would “have a severe chilling effect on exchanges with China” and represent “a destabilizing policy approach to cross-strait relations,” they said.
Photo: screen grab from Mario Diaz-Balart’s X account
“The Congressional Taiwan Caucus will continue to stand with our key democratic partner, Taiwan, as it faces an increasingly belligerent and dangerous” People’s Republic of China, the statement said.
Late last month, China issued the 22-point set of “guidelines” to penalize “die-hard” Taiwanese independence separatists, including with the death penalty.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink had said during a congressional testimony session on June 27 that Beijing was pushing for extraterritorial jurisdiction in a “worrisome way” that would create a chilling effect on cross-strait dialogue and interaction.
That same day, the Mainland Affairs Council issued a travel advisory that upgraded the warning for travel to China, Hong Kong and Macau to orange from yellow, and urged Taiwanese to refrain from traveling there unless absolutely necessary.
Separately, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Friday said that four types of actions could be considered separatist crimes.
First, starting or establishing a pro-Taiwanese independence organization to plan and engage in plans to “split” the country and damage ‘national unity,” it said.
Second, drafting or amending legislation to clarify or annul regulations or referendum voting methods regarding the “Taiwan area” to undermine the legality of Taiwan being part of China.
Third, campaigning for Taiwan to join international bodies limited to the participation of sovereign states, or making contact with other countries, diplomatically or militarily, to create the semblance of “two Chinas,” “one China, one Taiwan” or an “independent Taiwan.”
Last, a person using their position to alter the “fact” that “Taiwan is a part of China” through cultural or historical education, or through news and media, or acts of oppressing parties, groups and individuals supporting the peaceful development and unification of China and Taiwan, the office said.
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
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
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
RSS