The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned Chinese efforts to suppress Taiwan’s international space, after a report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists detailed pressure from the Chinese embassy in Belgium to remove the Taiwanese flag flying in front of the nation’s representative office in 2022.
The flag was removed in January 2023 and the intent to have Taiwan as the guest of honor at last year’s Brussels International Book Fair was also canceled out of concern about China’s reaction, according to a report in Belgium’s French-language newspaper Le Soir.
The report was part of the “China Targets” series by the consortium, which investigates how Beijing “abuses international institutions to terrorize its critics and extend its repressive tactics worldwide.”
Photo: CNA
Brussels International Book Fair director Tanguy Roosen told the newspaper that the fair had wanted to focus on Asian nations last year, but the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned against the idea.
It is evident that the Belgian government is cautious when it comes to dealing with China, he said.
The Central News Agency (CNA) said that its reporters had witnessed the flag being taken down, but decided not to report on the incident to prevent affecting Taiwan-Belgium relations.
China’s attempts to define the Taiwan issue as one of “domestic politics” seek to isolate Taiwan from international support, MOFA said in a statement.
“We call on the international community to take tangible action against China’s attempts to disrupt the status quo,” it said.
The international community must clearly state that it stands against Beijing’s use of legal, psychological and media warfare against Taiwan to jointly uphold stability and prosperity in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region, it added.
Representative to Belgium Roy Lee (李淳) told CNA that China’s oppression of Taiwan has been pervasive and relentless, and Taiwan’s diplomatic corps would continue to advocate for the nation’s rights to be recognized and heard by the international community.
Sara van Hoeymissen, a world politics lecturer at the Royal Military Academy of Belgium, said that the representative office is walking a tightrope in terms of what can or cannot be done diplomatically.
The Chinese embassy is constantly contacting the Belgian government regarding the formal appellation used for Taiwan on official documents and demands that any form of address given to Taiwan should refrain from being associated with independence, Van Hoeymissen said.
If the Chinese embassy chooses to, it can devote a great deal of resources to inundating the Taiwan representative office with letters and complaints, she said.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS