After snubbing Taiwan’s initial APEC envoy, this year’s summit host, Peru, is pushing for China to host the 2026 gathering following Beijing’s inauguration this week of a massive deep-water port in the South American country, the Nikkei Asia reported, citing sources who also said China had asked Lima to obstruct Taipei’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Two sources in Taipei said that Peru boycotted Taiwan’s first envoy pick — former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) — by not sending an invitation to the summit, forcing President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration to scramble to find an alternative, the Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday.
Even though Taiwan is a full APEC member, Taiwanese presidents are unable to attend the leaders’ summits due to pressure from China.
Photo: Bloomberg
China’s growing clout in the region, including with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, represents a challenge for US president-elect Donald Trump, the magazine reported.
On Thursday, the China-backed Chancay Mega-port, the largest deep-water port in South America, opened with the state-backed China Cosco Shipping Corp (中國遠洋海運) holding a lease to control it for 30 years, sources told the Nikkei Asia.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Boluarte participated in the opening of the port over video link, and signed a deal to widen a free-trade agreement.
Photo: AFP
Then-US Southern Command commander US Army General Laura Richardson earlier this month warned that Chancay could be used by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, the Nikkei Asia reported.
Bethany Allen, head of China investigations at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said that China’s heavy investments in deep-water ports tend to bring baggage, including a significant debt burden, environmental damage, concerns about geopolitical influence and the potential expansion of Chinese military power.
“Deep-sea ports built by China are generally believed to be dual-use, meaning they could also be used by Chinese military vessels” Allen told the Nikkei Asia.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols said in Lima that Latin American nations must be vigilant on Chinese investment, German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) reported on Friday.
“Chancay illustrates how China seeks secure access to resources and markets and its ever more successful fight to corner global value added,” DW cited Robert Evan Ellis, Latin America research professor at the US Army War College, as saying.
Guatemala-based CentroAmerica360 cited Ellis as saying that Cosco’s exclusive control over Chancay and the Boluarte government’s haste to change Peruvian laws to satisfy China, granting Cosco rights that other local operators do not have, powerfully illustrates how Beijing does business and secures its commercial and strategic interests.
Granting the exclusive rights to China has also raised fears that Peru could be turned into a launch pad for China’s military in a conflict with the US, while numerous sightings have been reported of Chinese military personnel at the port and administrative offices engaged in activities that go beyond commercial port operations, CentroAmerica360 said.
The northern sections of the port are designated for large communication stations and heavily fortified warehouses, as well as dormitories and training facilities, it said.
Domestic concerns are growing that the port could become a base similar to China’s military outpost in Djibouti, it added.
The Nikkei Asia cited analyst Marcin Jerzewski, a former visiting scholar at the National Library of Chile, as saying that Boluarte “wants to use the APEC summit as an opportunity to highlight the bilateral friendship [with China], such as inaugurating the Chancay port. Chancay is the crown jewel of China’s maritime expansion in the Western Hemisphere.”
The sources in Taipei said Peru’s push for China to host the 2026 APEC summit came without open discussion or full agreement by member states.
One of the sources said that a China-hosted APEC would mean “more suppression and interference,” the Nikkei Asia reported.
Also at issue is Taiwan’s bid to join the CPTPP, of which Peru is an original member, it said.
While Taipei and Beijing both applied to join in 2021, China has asked Peru to withhold approval for Taiwan, the sources said.
“China can prevent Taiwan from joining the CPTPP through Peru, which is very cost-effective,” it cited one of them as saying.
Several countries oppose efforts to grant China APEC hosting rights for 2026 without a consensus, fearing that Beijing could use the opportunity to apply more pressure on Taiwan, CentroAmerica360 reported.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday declared emergency martial law, accusing the opposition of being “anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime” amid parliamentary wrangling over a budget bill. “To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness, I hereby declare emergency martial law,” Yoon said in a live televised address to the nation. “With no regard for the livelihoods of the people, the opposition party has paralysed governance solely for the sake of impeachments, special investigations, and shielding their leader from justice,” he
‘IMPORTANCE OF PEACE’: President Lai was welcomed by AIT Managing Director Ingrid Larson, Hawaii Governor Josh Green, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and others President William Lai (賴清德) was feted with red carpets, garlands of flowers and “alohas” as he began his two-day stopover in Hawaii on Saturday, part of a Pacific tour. Looking relaxed in a Hawaiian shirt, Lai flitted around the US island state, visiting the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Hawaii’s leading museum of natural history and native Hawaiian culture, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Lai was given the “red carpet treatment” on the tarmac of Honolulu’s international airport, his office said, adding that it was the first time a Taiwanese president had been given such
REGIONAL STABILITY: The arms sale to Taiwan is the 18th approved by US President Joe Biden’s administration and the sixth since William Lai was elected president on Jan. 13 The US government on Friday announced arms sales involving spare parts and support for F-16 fighter aircraft and follow-up support for Improved Mobile Subscriber Equipment (IMSE), at a total cost of US$387 million. It is the 18th arms sale approved by US President Joe Biden’s administration to Taiwan and the sixth since the nation’s presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 13. The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said it delivered the required certification notifying the US Congress of the latest arms sale on Friday. The proposed arms sale is consistent with US law and policy as expressed in Public Law
The Mainland Affairs Council and lawmakers yesterday accused a visiting Chinese university student of denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty by referring to the national baseball team that won a first-ever Premier12 title as “China, Taipei team” (中國台北隊). “We deeply regret the Chinese student’s words, that have hurt the feelings of Taiwanese... The Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, as the organizers, should remind group members not to use inappropriate words and behavior,” a council statement said. “We hope these young Chinese can accurately observe the true views of Taiwanese, which would be a positive development for interactions between young people on the two sides of the Taiwan
RSS