The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday reiterated Taiwan’s sovereignty, saying that it has never been ruled by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The ministry issued the remarks after Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau was quoted by the Chinese-language edition of Russia’s Sputnik News Agency as saying in an interview in Lithuania on Monday that Poland recognizes the “one China” policy and that Taiwan is part of China.
The ministry would continue to stress to members of the international community that the Republic of China is a sovereign nation, not a part of the PRC, and that Taiwan’s future can only be decided by its 23.5 million people, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said yesterday.
Taiwan and Poland are democratic partners and would continue deepen bilateral relations, she said, adding that the two countries had so far signed 22 agreements, with the most recent one — on judicial cooperation — having taken effect in February.
On Saturday, Taiwan took delivery of 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine donated by Poland.
The vaccine made Poland Taiwan’s third-largest vaccine donor, after the US and Japan.
Poland said that it was given 1 million masks, 5,000 protective suits and 20,000 surgical gowns by Taiwan last year after the COVID-19 pandemic spread worldwide.
The European country said that it made the vaccine donation to return the favor and to help Taiwan boost its vaccination rate.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
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