Ahead of the visit of President William Lai (賴清德), Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr on Monday asked for China to respect his nation’s sovereignty and international law.
The visit to Palau is part of Lai’s first overseas official trip as president, touring the pacific island nations of the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, as well as stops in Hawaii and Guam.
In an interview with Benar News, Whipps expressed support for Palau’s diplomatic ties with Taiwan and asked China to respect the nation’s “decision to choose who our friends are.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
“I think if you want to be a partner with Palau, a friend of Palau, you don’t do it by force,” Whipps said.
Palau’s continuing relationship with Taiwan has led to what he called “unfriendly behavior” by China, including targeting the nation’s tourism industry by withholding visitors, launching a cyberattack that stole more than 20,000 documents and naval incursions into its exclusive economic zone.
Whipps referred to the incidents as China “not respecting the rule of law, not respecting boundaries.”
Meanwhile in Taipei yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said that it is watching the movements of a Chinese aircraft carrier and assessing China’s military activities, as security sources said that Beijing could launch new war games as soon as the weekend.
China has held two rounds of war games around the nation so far this year, and its forces operate nearby on a daily basis.
China has a strong dislike of Lai, whom it calls a “separatist,” and sources have said that it could launch new drills to coincide with his trip to Pacific island allies this week.
Ministry spokesman Major General Sun Li-fang (孫立方) at a news conference said that Taiwan knows where Chinese aircraft carrier the Liaoning is stationed, but could not give details. The aircraft carrier was involved in the most recent Chinese war games in October.
Asked whether Chinese war games could start at the weekend given that Lai returns to Taiwan late on Friday, Sun declined to comment.
“We have a very thorough judgement of the enemy situation, and there are a lot of indicators here that we use to make appropriate judgements to deal with the situation,” Sun said.
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Beijing has expressed anger at the US for allowing Lai to visit Hawaii and Guam.
Three Taipei-based security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter, said that based on the latest intelligence assessments, the chances of war games starting at the weekend are high.
One source described “busier” than usual activity in the waters around Taiwan which might be China positioning itself for the possible drills.
A Russian naval fleet, which included three frigates and one supply vessel, on Monday operated 24 nautical miles (45km) off Taiwan’s southeastern coast and conducted joint simulated attacks on “foreign vessels and aircraft” with a Chinese destroyer nearby, a source said.
The Russian fleet entered the East China Sea early yesterday, and the source said it was expected to continue joint military maneuvers with its Chinese counterparts as it heads north.
“The assessments show that China might be making deployments for drills after the visit,” the source said, referring to Lai’s trip.
A second source said that while winter drills are unusual, it would be the kind of practice needed to be able to attack Taiwan at any time of the year.
“China has been honing its ability to operate at night, and being able to fight in bad weather is another skill it needs to get right,” the source said.
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