The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday condemned the Chinese authorities for claiming there is no such thing as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name), after President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) planned visit to Eswatini was canceled earlier this week.
Lai was scheduled to depart on Wednesday for Eswatini, Taiwan’s sole diplomatic ally in Africa, but the trip was canceled after the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar abruptly rescinded overflight permissions for his chartered plane.
Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟 安), who announced the cancellation on Tuesday, said it resulted from “strong pressure” exerted by China, including the “economic coercion” of the three African countries.
Photo: CNA
At a regular news briefing in Taipei on Thursday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) condemned remarks by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) and foreign ministry on Wednesday regarding the status of the Republic of China (ROC) and its president, following the cancellation of Lai’s trip.
Liang said those remarks “in effect” reflect Beijing’s position that “it does not recognize the existence of the ROC” and that “the ROC has no president.”
The comments drew condemnation from MAC because they align with Beijing’s “one China principle,” under which Taiwan is regarded as part of the People’s Republic of China and the ROC is not recognized as a sovereign state.
Taiwan rejects that position and maintains that the ROC is a sovereign state.
The TAO remarks Liang referred to were made by agency spokesperson Zhang Han (張?), who said at a regular news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday that “there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China. There is no such thing as a ‘president.’”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun (郭 嘉昆) said the same day that “the so-called ‘president of the ROC’ has long ceased to exist in the world.”
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS