Nicaragua trumpets ‘ideological affinity’ with Beijing and seizes Taipei’s former embassy and diplomatic offices
China has opened an embassy in Nicaragua for the first time since 1990, less than a month after the central American country cut ties with Taiwan.
The Nicaraguan foreign minister, Denis Moncada, said there was an “ideological affinity” between the two countries and thanked China for donating 1m doses of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine.
Continue reading...Employee at high-security facility tests positive in island’s first local infection in weeks
Health officials in Taiwan are investigating whether a mouse bite may have been responsible for a laboratory worker testing positive for Covid, the island’s first local infection in weeks.
The authorities are scrambling to work out how the employee at Academia Sinica, the country’s top research institute, contracted the virus last month.
Continue reading...Central American country becomes latest to switch allegiances to Beijing, amid escalating tensions
Nicaragua has switched diplomatic allegiance to China, leaving Taiwan with just 14 governments around the world that formally recognise it as a country.
The announcement by the Central American country’s foreign ministry also recognised Beijing’s claim over Taiwan as a Chinese province, a dispute that is at the heart of escalating tensions in the region.
Continue reading...Manasseh Sogavare defends switching diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China
The prime minister of Solomon Islands has defended his government’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with China, accusing “agents of Taiwan” of attempting to destabilise the government.
Manasseh Sogavare made the comments during a heated day in parliament as the opposition leader, Mathew Wale, attempted to remove the prime minister through a no-confidence motion that was defeated by a significant majority.
Wale blamed Sogavare for the deadly anti-government protests and riots that have shaken the country in recent weeks. Protesters marched on the parliamentary precinct in the east of Honiara on 24 November, where they allegedly set fire to a leaf hut next to Parliament House where MPs and staffers go to smoke and eat lunch. Riots followed lasting hours with buildings being torched in Chinatown, as well as at a police station and a school.
Rioting continued for days. The bodies of three people were found in a burnt-out building in a store in the Chinatown district of Honiara.
Many of the protesters come from Malaita province, the most populous province in the country, where the provincial government has had tense relations with the central government for years. Tensions increased in 2019 when Sogavare announced that Solomon Islands would switch its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China, a decision that the Malaita premier, Daniel Suidani, has strongly criticised.
Xiomara Castro has said she will foster ties with Beijing in what experts see as a move to counter US influence
Xiomara Castro’s victory in the Honduras presidential elections has placed the Central American nation at the heart of an intensifying diplomatic tug-of-war between Taiwan and China.
Honduras is one of only 15 remaining countries that recognizes the sovereignty of Taiwan, which China claims as part of its own territory. But Castro made a manifesto pledge to end that decades-long relationship and establish diplomatic ties with Beijing.
Continue reading...A rural community of 5,500 people, with an under-resourced health system, came together to take on Covid. International news editor Bonnie Malkin introduces this story about a community effort to confront Delta
You can read the original article here: Speed, decisiveness, cooperation: how a tiny Taiwan village overcame Delta
Island’s status and surveillance technology making China ‘single greatest priority’ for MI6
China is at risk of “miscalculating through over-confidence” over Taiwan, said the MI6 head, Richard Moore, in a statement clearly intended to warn Beijing to back off any attempt to seize control of the island.
Giving a rare speech, Britain’s foreign intelligence chief said in London that China was at risk of “believing its own propaganda” and that the country had become “the single greatest priority” for MI6 for the first time in its history.
Continue reading...Beijing urges Washington to stick to the ‘one China’ principle amid rising tensions over Taiwan
China’s government has accused Joe Biden of “a mistake” in inviting Taiwan to participate in a democracy summit alongside 109 other democratic governments.
Taiwan was included in a list of participants for next month’s Summit for Democracy, published by the state department on Tuesday. Taiwan is a democracy and self-governing, but Beijing claims it is a province of China and has accused its government of separatism.
Continue reading...Huang Chia-lu responds to the news that a Chinese official is seeking election to Interpol’s executive committee, and urges the international community to support Taiwan’s participation
You rightly point out the concerns of human rights activists and international politicians that China could misuse Interpol’s capabilities to track down overseas dissidents if Hu Binchen is elected as an executive committee member (Chinese official seeks Interpol role, sparking fears for dissidents, 15 November). One should also note that Taiwan is not included in Interpol, meaning there is a missing part in the global fight against international crime and cybercrime.
As cybercrime transcends borders, transnational cooperation is key to bringing international crime rings to justice. Taiwan’s police authorities have a hi-tech crime investigation unit and professional cybercrime investigators. Taiwan’s expertise will benefit global efforts to build a safer cyberspace.
Continue reading...China’s move was in protest at Baltic country allowing the opening of a diplomatic office using the name Taiwan
China has officially downgraded its diplomatic ties with Lithuania to the “charge d’affaires” level in protest at Taiwan establishing a de facto embassy in Vilnius.
Lithuania allowing Taipei to formally open an office using the name Taiwan was a significant diplomatic departure that defied a pressure campaign by Beijing, which tries to keep Taiwan isolated on the global stage.
Continue reading...De facto embassy opening in Vilnius defies pressure from Beijing
Taiwan has opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania in a diplomatic breakthrough for the island, brushing aside Beijing’s strong opposition to the move which again expressed its anger and warned of consequences.
Taipei announced on Thursday it had formally opened an office in Lithuania using the name Taiwan, a significant diplomatic departure that defied a pressure campaign by Beijing.
Continue reading...From railway signs to perfume bottles to Taiwan’s official passport stamp, the artist is giving ancient lettering a modern twist. How will her work go down at Hong Kong’s controversial new M+ gallery?
The most striking thing about Tong Yang-tze, sitting inside her modest Taipei studio residence, is her confidence, and the sense that she’s had it all along. Now in her late 70s and considered one of Taiwan’s foremost calligraphers and artists, Tong grins and jokes over cups of green tea and local sweets, belying her fame and cultural significance. “Of course I’m good!” she laughs at one point, recalling an offer early in her career from her former university to teach. “I said no, I don’t want a teaching job. At that time, everybody needed a job but I wanted to be an artist. No regrets.”
Last week Tong’s calligraphy with a modern art twist greeted visitors to the hotly anticipated M+ museum in Hong Kong, an ambitious decade-long project to create what has been dubbed Asia’s Tate Modern. The 33-gallery space, in a harbourside building designed by “starchitects” Herzog & de Meuron in collaboration with TFP Farrells and Arup, opened last week.
Continue reading...Analysis: while depth of division remains clear, leaders showed willingness to move in positive direction
The much-awaited meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping achieved its admittedly low expectations when the two finally met and showed a willingness to move the bilateral relationship in a positive direction.
Progress began to show soon after the meeting, for example on journalist visas. But the two sides also provided a list of existing grievances following the three-and-a-half-hour talks. The US said it raised its concerns over China’s human rights record, its “unfair trade and economic practices”, and its behaviour in the South China Sea.
Continue reading...Chinese leader urges countries in region to work together amid growing pressure from US over Taiwan
Xi Jinping has warned against a return to cold war-era tensions in the Asia-Pacific, urging greater cooperation on pandemic recovery and the climate crisis.
Amid growing tensions with the US over Taiwan, the Chinese president said all countries in the region must work together on joint challenges.
Continue reading...China’s aggression destabilises the region and threatens democratic freedoms, Taipei says
Taiwan has hit back at the former Australian prime minister Paul Keating after he said Taiwan was “not a vital Australian interest” and labelled it a “civil matter” for China.
In an appearance at the National Press Club on Wednesday, Keating dismissed global concerns about China’s aggression towards Taiwan and criticised Australia’s growing bipartisan pushback.
Continue reading...Beijing must not be let off hook over human rights abuses in return for climate cooperation, say legislators
Legislators from around the world have gathered on the fringes of the G20 summit in Rome to protest against the presence of the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, and urge leaders not to let China off the hook over human rights abuses in return for Beijing’s cooperation on the climate crisis.
Many of those at the Rome counter-meeting have been banned from travelling to China as punishment for campaigning against Chinese repression in Xinjiang.
Continue reading...Beijing furious at US call for island to have ‘meaningful participation’ in international body
China has said Taiwan has no right to join the United Nations, after the US increased tensions with a call for the democratic island to have greater involvement in the world body.
In a statement marking 50 years since the UN general assembly voted to seat Beijing and boot out Taipei, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Tuesday he regretted that Taiwan had been increasingly excluded on the world stage.
Continue reading...Trade minister Dan Tehan sees ‘real opportunities’ to help Taiwan, as he hopes relationship with China has not become permanently adversarial
The Australian government says it wants to help Taiwan decarbonise its economy, flagging this as the next area of cooperation with the democratically ruled island, amid ongoing tensions with China.
The trade minister, Dan Tehan, said he saw “real opportunities” to deepen energy ties with Taiwan, while arguing there was bipartisan recognition in Australia of “the greater assertiveness that we’re seeing from China”.
Continue reading...Administration insists there is no change of policy after president says US has ‘a commitment’ to defend island
China has urged the US to “avoid sending any wrong signals” after President Joe Biden for a second time in three months said the US would come to Taiwan’s defence if it was attacked.
In both incidents, the White House has clarified that there has been no change in US policy, which officially maintains so-called “strategic ambiguity” regarding Taiwan. Still, Biden’s words will rattle Beijing.
Continue reading...On the streets of Taipei, Beijing’s rhetoric is a hot topic but people are focused on a peaceful future
In a small urban park on Yong Kang Jie, Taipei’s famous eat street, an elderly woman leans across the frame of her friend’s parked bicycle and shouts. “Taiwan is an independent country!”
It’s a quiet autumn morning. Children play on a nearby slide, and a young mother enjoys a takeaway bento box.
Continue reading...