The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was on pins and needles again yesterday in the struggle with China over Vanuatu as the South Pacific island's Cabinet met, reportedly to discuss the new ties.
Although the Cabinet approved Prime Minister Serge Vohor's decision to establish diplomatic relations with Taiwan on Monday, it appeared that a formal meeting was necessary to give an official blessing to the ties.
An information official at Bei-jing's embassy on the island told a Taiwanese newspaper on Wednesday that Beijing would immediately cut ties as soon as the Cabinet gave its official approval to relations with Taiwan.
After keeping an eye on the Cabinet meeting all day yesterday, the ministry said last night that the Vanuatuan ministers hardly touched upon the issue of diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
"Our diplomats contacted Pipite Marcellino, Vanuatu's newly appointed foreign minister, to ask what happened in the meeting. They were told that the meeting mainly focused on internal affairs, ministry spokesman Michel Lu (
Lu indicated that the Chinese diplomats might have been trying to sabotage Taipei-Port Vila relations by speaking untruthfully to the media.
Taiwan's embassy in Port Vila raised the national flag on Wednes-day after receiving a letter from the Vanuatuan government allowing it to do so.
Meanwhile, Beijing has admit-ted for the first time since Taiwan and Vanuatu signed a communique on Nov. 3 that "some problems" exist in its relations with Port Vila.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue (
"We hope the Vanuatu government can actually follow what it promised to do regarding the Tai-wan issue," she said at a press conference.
"Our ambassador to Vanuatu and other diplomats are still in Vanuatu and have been in contact with government officials. We asked Vanuatu to keep the `one China' policy," she said.
The Associated Press carried a special report on the diplomatic war over Vanuatu yesterday.
"Most outsiders who have heard of Vanuatu probably know the tiny Pacific island nation as the setting for the latest season of the high-stakes TV contest `Survivor,'"
the report said.
"Now, Vanuatu is the guest star in a different, even more lucrative competition: `Dollar Diplomacy,' the battle between China and rival Taiwan to woo diplomatic part-ners," the report said.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
RSS