People should beware of false information designed to erode confidence in US commitments to defend Taiwan and damage Taiwan-US ties, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
US radio talk show host Garland Nixon last week wrote on Twitter that sources said US President Joe Biden had warned about the “destruction of Taiwan.”
“BREAKING NEWS: White House insiders leak that, when asked if there could be any greater disaster than the neocon Ukraine project, President Biden responded, wait until you see our plan for the destruction of Taiwan,” Nixon wrote.
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) shared Nixon’s post on Facebook with a Chinese-language translation.
“It has come to our attention that a certain Taiwanese politician quoted from a reportedly famous radio talk show host in Washington, who said that the White House has a plan to destroy Taiwan,” the ministry said in a statement. “Such information is unverified and false, as Taiwan-US relations continue to grow in a positive direction, and US officials repeatedly pledge to support Taiwan and maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
“We want to remind people to beware of messages from certain individuals expressing anti-US sentiments or those questioning the US’ commitment to defend Taiwan, as they will take advantage of every opportunity to spread false information using sensational content,” it said. “They often echo the rhetoric that China uses for cognitive warfare to erode Taiwanese confidence in the US and damage the Taiwan-US partnerships.”
Bolstering Taiwan-US ties has been a bipartisan consensus, the ministry said, adding that the US government has fulfilled the commitments of the Taiwan Relations Act and the “six assurances.”
The Biden administration has approved arms sales to Taiwan eight times since 2020, while White House officials have on multiple occasions voiced support for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said.
Taiwan and the US have expanded partnerships, including through the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, the Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue and the US-Taiwan Education Initiative, it said.
In November last year, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Washington and the American Institute in Taiwan signed a memorandum of understanding on development and humanitarian assistance operations, the ministry said.
Taiwan has deepened cooperation with Australia, Japan and the US through the framework of Global Cooperation and Training Framework, it added.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to