Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) expressed confidence in US support for Taiwan under US President Donald Trump’s administration in an interview with Al Jazeera published yesterday.
“Taiwan and the US have a very strong and solid relationship, and Taiwan has cross-party support from the US Congress,” Chiu said in the interview.
Chiu said he believes Washington would never accept an “unreasonable request” from Beijing to alter the terms of its relationship with Taiwan, despite widespread concern that Trump could use Taiwan as a bargaining chip in its dealings with China.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
The report said many Taiwanese are worried that Trump could abandon Taiwan to win concessions in trade talks with China.
Chiu said Taiwan has much to offer the US, from its strategic position within Washington’s first island chain defense strategy aimed at checking Chinese expansion in the Pacific, to its position as the world’s foremost chipmaker.
“We think that we can demonstrate to the US people and to the US people that Taiwan is a very good partner, and we are irreplaceable,” Chiu said.
Chiu said Taiwan would continue to observe the Trump administration, “Taiwan’s government has a very consistent position of protecting our sovereignty, our freedom and democracy.”
In the interview, Chiu also said he was most concerned about the leadership style of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Chiu said that Taiwan’s government continues to try to communicate with Beijing through official channels, as well as liaising through intermediaries from the business world, nonprofit sector and academia.
Chiu, however, criticized China’s communications with the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which he characterized as part of Beijing’s divide and rule and “United Front” tactics employed against Taiwan.
“We are constantly facing United Front tactics, infiltration and division in Taiwanese society. They are everywhere,” Chiu said.
“The Xi regime is a new type of authoritarianism. He has been inciting a fanatic nationalism, and that’s why we are seeing military hegemony and wolf warrior diplomacy,” Chiu said.
“Mainland China right now is not a very rational decision-making party, and this nationalism poses a great threat to its neighboring countries,” he added.
“If you ask me what concerns me the most, I would say that it’s the essence of the Xi regime,” he said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
RSS