Category Archives: Taiwan

Nancy Pelosi arrives in Taiwan as China puts military on high alert

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People’s Liberation Army announces targeted military operations as it calls visit a ‘malicious provocation’

Nancy Pelosi has landed in Taiwan for a controversial visit to the self-ruled island, offering “unwavering commitment” to supporting its democracy as already heightened tensions with China escalate.

Timed with her arrival, China’s ministry of defence said the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had been put on “high alert” and announced a series of targeted military operations, including missile tests in the waters east of Taiwan and drills encircling the main island for four days after Pelosi leaves.

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US says Beijing has no reason to turn Pelosi’s expected Taiwan visit into a ‘crisis’

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National security council says speaker has ‘right to visit’ after China warns its military would ‘not sit idly by’

The US national security council (NSC) has insisted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “has the right to visit Taiwan”, amid reports that she will be landing on the island on Tuesday – a move that China has vowed to respond to forcefully.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington on Monday, NSC spokesman John Kirby said Pelosi has visited Taiwan before “without any incident”.

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British MPs plan visit to Taiwan as tension with China simmers

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Exclusive: Tom Tugendhat likely to lead trip later this year as London’s relationship with Beijing deteriorates

Britain’s House of Commons foreign affairs committee is planning a visit to Taiwan later this year – probably in November or early December – despite rising tensions in the region, the Guardian has learned.

Sources say the trip – which was originally scheduled for early this year but was postponed due to one member of the delegation testing positive for Covid – was intended to show Britain’s support for the democratically run island, which China considers its own.

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Taiwan’s Rainbow Village defaced after operators told to move out

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Employees of contractor questioned over alleged vandalism after colourful murals painted over

A popular cultural attraction and one of Taiwan’s most “Instagrammable” sites has allegedly been defaced by the operators contracted to run it, after they were told to move out for six months while restoration work was conducted.

It was discovered on Friday that many of the walls of the Rainbow Village had been covered with paint overnight. Police detained 14 employees of the Rainbow Creative Co for questioning over the alleged vandalism, including the company’s head, Wei Pi-Jen, who defended their actions as a protest rather than “malicious destruction”. They were released on Sunday.

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Nancy Pelosi begins Asia trip but does not mention Taiwan

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Reports that House speaker could visit Taiwan have riled China; analysts say she may yet do so in unofficial capacity

The US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has begun a tour of Asia but questions remain over whether it will include a stop in Taiwan.

In a press release on Sunday, Pelosi said a delegation would travel to the Indo-Pacific “to reaffirm America’s strong and unshakeable commitment to our allies and friends in the region”.

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China conducts military exercises off Taiwan after warning Pelosi to scrap visit

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PLA carries out ‘live-fire exercises’ after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told not to visit the island democracy

China said it was conducting military exercises off its coast opposite Taiwan after warning Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, to scrap possible plans to visit the island democracy.

The ruling Communist party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), was conducting “live-fire exercises” near the Pingtan islands off Fujian province from 8am to 9pm, the official Xinhua news agency said. The Maritime Safety Administration warned ships to avoid the area.

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‘Logic of brute force’ is rising in Indo-Pacific, says Japan amid China concerns

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Japan’s foreign minister tells Washington audience world at ‘historical crossroads’ and that Russian invasion of Ukraine must not succeed

Japan’s foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, has sounded the alarm about China’s behaviour in the Indo-Pacific during a visit to Washington, saying the “logic of brute force” was gaining more traction over the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific.

Referring to Chinese and Russian joint bomber flights near Japan in May, Hayashi said stronger military coordination between China and Russia was emerging as a security concern. “We are currently standing at a historical crossroads, one fraught with a sense of crisis,” he told the Centre for Strategic and International Studies thinktank on Friday. “We are facing a watershed moment.

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Xi Jinping tells Joe Biden not to ‘play with fire’ over Taiwan in two-hour call

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US president reiterates opposition to undermining peace in Taiwan amid tension over potential Pelosi trip

The Chinese president has warned Joe Biden against “playing with fire” over Taiwan in a highly anticipated phone call that lasted more than two hours on Thursday, as tensions remain high over the House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s possible trip to the island next month.

“Those who play with fire will be perished by it. It is hoped that the US will be clear-eyed about this,” said Xi Jinping, according to a Chinese statement. He also urged the US to implement the three joint communiques that serve as the foundation for relations between the two countries “both in word and in deed”. Xi vowed “resolutely” to safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity and said this is “the firm will of more than 1.4 billion Chinese people”.

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Pelosi’s Taiwan trip plan apparently confirmed by US lawmakers

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US-China tension rising as Michael McCaul and Anna Eshoo say they were invited to travel with House speaker

Nancy Pelosi has invited senior lawmakers to join her on a trip to Taiwan, according to a member of the House foreign affairs committee, providing the first apparent confirmation of the widely speculated visit.

The potential visit by the US House speaker to Taiwan is at the centre of spiralling tensions involving the island, China and the US, which analysts fear are at their most dangerous point in decades.

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‘Nancy, I’ll go with you’: Trump allies back Pelosi’s proposed Taiwan visit

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Mike Pompeo and Mark Esper support visit to ‘freedom-loving Taiwan’ but Biden concerned any trip would antagonise Beijing

Plans for Nancy Pelosi, the US House speaker, to visit Taiwan have prompted opposition from China and the American military but support from Republicans in Washington, including former members of the Trump administration.

Trump’s second secretary of defense, Mark Esper, told CNN: “I think if the speaker wants to go, she should go.”

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Japan sees increasing threat to Taiwan amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

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Defence ministry also sounds alarm at prospect of Beijing-Moscow ties deepening amid expectations Tokyo will boost defence spending

Japan’s defence ministry has said it is alarmed at fresh threats from Russia and has growing worries about Taiwan, in an annual report that comes as Tokyo considers significantly increasing military spending.

The document includes a chapter on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which it says risks sending the message “that an attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force is acceptable”.

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Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan trip ‘not a good idea right now’, says Biden

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US military advises against House speaker’s reported trip as president is due to talk to Xi Jinping for first time in four months

Joe Biden has cautioned against the reported trip to Taiwan next month by the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, saying the US military had assessed “it is not a good idea right now”.

The Financial Times reported earlier this week that Pelosi would lead a delegation to Taiwan in August to show support for the democratically ruled island, which Beijing claims is a breakaway province. The trip was initially scheduled for April but was postponed due to Pelosi testing positive for Covid at the time.

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Ukraine war forcing China to rethink ‘how and when’ it may invade Taiwan, CIA chief says

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Bill Burns says China ‘unsettled’ by Russia’s war in Ukraine and it may influence decisions on the possible use of force against Taiwan

Russia’s experience in Ukraine is affecting China’s calculations on how and when it may decide to invade Taiwan, the head of the CIA said on Wednesday.

Appearing at the Aspen Security Forum, Central Intelligence Agency director Bill Burns played down speculation that Chinese president Xi Jinping could move on Taiwan after a key Communist party meeting later this year.

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Four Hong Kong men arrested while trying to flee to Taiwan

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Police said men, including one shot by officer in 2019 protest, had been hiding from law enforcement

Four Hong Kong men, including one shot by the police during the 2019 protests in Tsuen Wan and later charged with rioting, have been arrested as they attempted to leave the city for Taiwan.

The police said the four, aged 16 to 24, were intercepted at a bus terminal near a ferry pier before dawn on Wednesday.

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Chinese invasion of Taiwan ‘would be catastrophic miscalculation’

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Trade should be directed at countries who can be trusted, says British foreign secretary Liz Truss

China would be making “a catastrophic miscalculation” if it invaded Taiwan, Liz Truss has said, telling the Nato summit that the UK and other countries should reconsider trading relationships with countries that used economic power in “coercive” ways.

In a sign of how far UK government attitudes towards China have shifted since the self-declared “golden decade” under David Cameron, the British foreign secretary said trade should be directed at countries that could be trusted.

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UK calls for extra vigilance on China ahead of Nato summit

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Boris Johnson and Liz Truss among those saying Ukraine war highlights potential Chinese threat to Taiwan

Boris Johnson and his ministers are going into the Nato summit with fresh warnings that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown the need for extra vigilance and caution over potential Chinese action against Taiwan.

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, who is joining the prime minister at the Nato gathering in Madrid, was most explicit, calling for faster action to help Taiwan with defensive weapons, a key requirement for Ukraine since the invasion.

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Taiwan scrambles jets to warn away Chinese planes in its air zone as tensions simmer

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Intruders included 17 fighters, six H-6 bombers and aerial refuelling aircraft, in largest Chinese incursion since May

Taiwan scrambled jets to warn away 29 Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone, including bombers that flew to the south of the island and into the Pacific, in the latest uptick in tensions and largest incursion since late May.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained for the past two years or so of repeated missions by the Chinese air force near the democratically governed island, often in the south-western part of its air defence identification zone, or ADIZ, close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas islands.

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World Cup: Taiwan sees red over China ‘bullying’ Qatar into use of ‘Chinese Taipei’

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Taipei angered by references to Taiwanese visitors after multiple name changes in visa application system for tournament in Doha

Taiwan has accused China of bullying after organisers of the World Cup in Qatar listed the nationality of Taiwanese visitors applying for an identification card as “Chinese Taipei”.

All World Cup ticket holders must apply for the Hayya card used to identify fans, which also serves as their Qatar visa, but Taiwan’s government originally expressed concern after discovering the online application system made no mention of the island.

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China launches third aircraft carrier in military advance

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Fujian unveiled amid heightened tensions with US over self-ruled Taiwan

China has launched its third aircraft carrier, the first designed and built entirely in the country, marking a significant military advance for the Asian superpower.

The announcement comes as tensions between China and the US have ramped up in recent weeks over Beijing’s sabre-rattling towards self-ruled Taiwan, which it views as a breakaway province to be seized by force if necessary.

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Taipei cools tempers by cutting traffic light wait time for summer

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More than 770 crossings will have countdowns shorted by up to a minute and a half

Authorities in Taipei have shortened waiting times at traffic lights for the summer, fearing that pedestrians could become ill if they are forced to stand in the tropical heat for too long.

The announcement on Friday will see more than 770 intersections in the Taiwanese capital cut waiting times by as much as one and a half minutes. On average, the signal countdowns are being cut by 30 seconds each. The new times will run between 9am and 4.30pm until September.

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