Taiwan does not exclude the possibility of having formal diplomatic relations with countries that also have formal ties with China, regardless of Beijing’s stance, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Sunday.
There was speculation in 2012 that Honduras was attempting to have simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China, an idea that then-minister of foreign affairs David Lin (林永樂) rejected.
Honduras severed formal ties with Taiwan on Sunday morning after establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has taken a more practical approach to relations with like-minded countries since assuming government in 2016. Previous administrations took the position that the two sides could not “stand together” regarding their formal ties with other countries.
Taiwan is resisting China’s attempts to isolate the nation by becoming an important economic, cultural and technological partner of Latin American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico, in the fields of economics, culture and technology, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui (俞大?) told the Spanish-language online news outlet Infobae.
Taiwan would not ask other countries to sever diplomatic ties with China, but rather welcomes the idea of forming relations with both countries, Yui said.
Countries should consider whether Beijing’s Taiwan exclusion demand is reasonable, he added.
“We will not rule out any possibility,” Wu said when asked on Sunday whether the ministry encourages dual recognition.
If any country wants to bolster relations with Taiwan, whether in politics, diplomacy, culture or trade, Taipei would not consider their relations with Beijing as a factor, he said.
China’s suppression of Taiwan’s global participation “is not just toward a political party or certain people, but a problem for our country,” Wu said.
The government is working to expand Taiwan’s “breathing room” internationally, such as with a group of Czech lawmakers visiting Taiwan this week, he added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday said Wu’s remark would result in more diplomatic losses, as accepting dual recognition “creates ambiguity.”
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
RSS