The nation would continue to abide by its cross-strait policy of maintaining the “status quo” even as Beijing exerts greater pressure by stealing away Taiwan’s allies and barring the nation from participating in this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, an anonymous source said yesterday.
Over the first three months of the year, China constricted Taiwan’s international space in 10 incidents, adding to 49 such incidents last year, 18 in 2016 and 13 in 2015, Ministry of Foreign Affairs data showed.
China’s tactics include forcing Taiwanese diplomatic allies to switch their recognition from Taipei to Beijing; barring the nation from the WHA, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the Interpol and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change; unilaterally launching northbound flights on the M503 aviation route, which is close to the median line of the Taiwan Strait; and coercing other nations to deport Taiwanese fraud suspects to China for trial, the source said.
The Hakka Affairs Council was in February to attend a cultural exchange event in Mauritius, but the hotel canceled the event, citing pressure from the local Chinese embassy.
Similarly, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Jordan was last month invited to the International City Festival, but the host removed Republic of China national flags from Taiwan’s booth due to Chinese pressure.
More examples can be cited that illustrate how China forces other nations to observe its “one China” principle, yet Taiwan is garnering more support from the international community, the source said.
For example, US President Donald Trump in March signed the Taiwan Travel Act, and the US White House earlier this month said that China’s attempt to control the name by which US airlines refer to Taiwan is “Orwellian nonsense.”
The EU and the US, Japan and other nations that are friendly to Taiwan have expressed the intention to argue on behalf of Taiwan at this year’s WHA.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed support for the nation by writing a piece of calligraphy that read, “Taiwan, good luck,” which he posted on his official Facebook page after Hualien was rocked by a deadly earthquake in February.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) pledge to maintain the cross-strait “status quo” aims to attract more international allies by letting them know that it is Beijing that continues sabotaging the peaceful “status quo,” the source said.
The greater the pressure from China, the more the government will pursue this policy, the source said, adding that Tsai’s administration would not concede to Chinese pressure and change its cross-strait policy.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit