Dozens of people have been killed in a train derailment on the east coast of Taiwan, the island’s worst rail disaster in decades
Dozens dead after Taiwan express service derails in tunnel
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Dozens killed after train carrying about 350 people derails in eastern Taiwan – video report
Dozens of people have died after a train derailed in a tunnel in eastern Taiwan, authorities have said. The 408 Taroko Express was carrying about 350 people when it crashed on Friday morning at Qingshui tunnel in Huaelien county, the transport ministry said. It said 36 passengers 'had no signs of life', and 44 others had been taken to hospital with injuries. The majority of injuries occurred in the last two carriages.
The express train was travelling south towards Taitung on the first day of a long weekend for the traditional Tomb Sweeping holiday, when people attend to the graves of loved ones and honour the dead.
Continue reading...Palau to welcome first tourists in a year with presidential escort
Palau is opening up to visitors from Taiwan under strict Covid-safe measures, but locals still have doubts
On Thursday, 110 people from Taiwan will be able to enjoy the thing so many around the world have been dreaming of since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic: an international holiday to a tropical island paradise.
The tiny Pacific country of Palau, in the north-west corner of the Pacific with a population of around 20,000 people, will this week begin welcoming tourists from Taiwan as part of a travel bubble.
Continue reading...How Taiwan triumphed over Covid as the UK faltered
Taipei’s success shows lives might have been saved had the UK government acted differently
Along central Taipei’s busy Yongkang Street crowds spill out of restaurants and bars every evening, mingling with people queueing outside popular eateries for a tiny table to cram around with groups of friends. Children out way past their bedtime run amok over the play equipment in a nearby park, shrieking and laughing as their parents chat nearby.
In London, it would be unthinkable. In the Taiwanese capital, it is just another spring evening.
Continue reading...China threat to invade Taiwan is ‘closer than most think’, says US admiral
- China considers recovering control of Taiwan its ‘No 1 priority’
- Adm John Aquilino is nominated to head Indo-Pacific Command
The Chinese threat to invade Taiwan is serious and more imminent than many understand, the US admiral chosen to lead the Pentagon’s Indo-Pacific region has warned.
China considers recovering control over Taiwan its “No 1 priority”, Adm John Aquilino, nominated to become commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, told the Senate armed services committee on Tuesday.
Continue reading...China could invade Taiwan in next six years, top US admiral warns
Asia Pacific commander Philip Davidson says Beijing wants to take Washington’s world leadership role by 2050
China could invade Taiwan within the next six years as Beijing accelerates its moves to supplant American military power in Asia, a top US commander has warned.
Democratic and self-ruled Taiwan lives under constant threat of invasion by China, whose leaders view the island as part of their territory and which they have vowed to one day take back.
Continue reading...China calls on US to drop Trump-era sanctions and warns against ‘bullying’
Foreign minister Wang Yi calls for cooperation and signals that Beijing will stand firm against criticism
China’s top diplomat has called on the US to drop the sanctions and restrictions introduced by Donald Trump and warned against international “hegemony and bullying” and interference in what Beijing considers internal affairs, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the South China Sea.
On day three of China’s annual National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, signalled that Beijing intended to hold firm against growing international criticism of its perceived expansionist and hostile activity and domestic human rights abuses.
Continue reading...Spate of firecracker attacks on Taiwan’s invasive iguanas sparks alarm
Rights group calls for action after cash bounty schemes lead to reptiles being blown up and shot with a bow and arrow
A spate of cruelty towards invasive iguanas in Taiwan including stuffing firecrackers in the reptiles’ mouths or shooting them with bows and arrows has prompted animal rights groups to call for a government crackdown.
The Environment & Animal Society of Taiwan (East) said local and provincial government campaigns to encourage community involvement in controlling the spread of introduced species lacked guidelines, resulting in “a chaotic free-for-all at the expense of the welfare of the targeted animals”.
Continue reading...Australian senator calls to recognise China’s treatment of Uighurs as genocide
Independent Rex Patrick moves after similar parliamentary motions passed in Canada and the Netherlands
An Australian senator will seek support from fellow upper house members to recognise China’s treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority as genocide, after similar parliamentary motions passed in Canada and the Netherlands.
The proposed motion – placed on the Senate’s notice paper for 15 March – looms as a test for the major parties at a time when Australia should join the international community in taking a stand, according to the South Australian independent senator Rex Patrick.
Continue reading...Number of Hong Kong residents moving to Taiwan nearly doubles in 2020
Wave of migration comes amid worsening crackdown on freedoms following the introduction of Beijing’s national security law
Taiwan issued nearly twice as many residence permits to Hongkongers in 2020 compared with the previous year, new government data have shown, further evidence of the continued exodus of people from the city that is under a worsening crackdown.
Pro-democracy supporters and basic freedoms in Hong Kong have been under pressure since the introduction of a national security law by Beijing in late June.
Continue reading...Biden raises Taiwan and human rights with Xi Jinping in first phone call
The conversation came hours after the US president announced a new Pentagon taskforce on China
Joe Biden has affirmed the US’s tough line on China’s human rights abuses and regional expansionism in his first phone call with president Xi Jinping since taking office.
Xi defended China’s policies as matters of sovereignty, but told the US leader confrontation would be “a disaster”, and called for the two sides to re-establish the means to avoid misjudgments, according to state media.
Continue reading...‘Bingeing free expression’: popularity of Clubhouse app soars in China
US social media platform allows users to discuss sensitive subjects like Xinjiang and Taiwan, but many fear it could fall foul of China’s censors
Chinese internet users have flocked to the audio-only social media app, Clubhouse, for uncensored discussions on political and human rights subjects, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the persecution of Uighurs. But there are fears the popularity of the app could lead to censorship or recrimination.
The invitation-only US app, which is currently restricted to iPhones, allows users to listen in to discussions and interviews in quasi conference-call style online rooms. Running for almost a year, it became suddenly popular last week – particularly in China.
Continue reading...Guyana calls off plan for Taiwan ties after Beijing criticizes ‘mistake’
Foreign ministry said it terminated agreement with Taiwan to open office after Beijing urged country to ‘correct their mistake’
Guyana has abruptly terminated an agreement with Taiwan to open an office in the South American country, hours after China urged Georgetown to “correct their mistake”.
Earlier on Thursday, Taiwan’s foreign ministry announced it had signed an agreement with Guyana to open a Taiwan office – effectively a de facto embassy for the island that China claims as its sovereign territory with no right to diplomatic ties.
Continue reading...Taiwan waives Covid quarantine fine for man who was kidnapped
Authorities revoke £2,600 penalty after it emerges debt collectors had abducted him from self-isolation
A Taiwanese man penalised for breaching Covid quarantine regulations has had his fine revoked after it emerged he had been kidnapped by debt collectors.
The man, whose surname is Chen, returned from Hong Kong in late October and began his 14 days of mandatory home quarantine at a friend’s home in Nantou county. The next day, however, men identified as debt collectors arrived at the house and mistook Chen for his friend, who owed them money.
Continue reading...From lockdowns to pool parties: how Covid rules vary around the world
Countries have adopted different rules on business activity, education, socialising and travel
Curfews and lockdowns Restrictions have largely been relaxed in most of Brazil’s 26 states, although several continue to limit opening hours for bars, restaurants and shops. A round-the-clock curfew was imposed this week in Brazil’s biggest state, Amazonas, after hospitals were overwhelmed.
Continue reading...Australian military to continue patrolling South China Sea as Beijing warns Taiwan independence ‘means war’
Australia ‘monitoring developments’ as Taiwan reports an increase in Chinese aircraft in its defence zone
Australian military ships and aircraft will continue to patrol the South China Sea amid warnings from China that a declaration of independence by Taiwan would “mean war”.
With Taiwan reporting an increase in Chinese military aircraft in its air defence zone, and with Beijing cautioning independence forces against “playing with fire”, the Australian government is closely monitoring developments in the region.
Continue reading...Chinese aircraft enter Taiwan’s air defence zone
Escalation prompts US president, Joe Biden, to make first public remarks on relationship with Taipei
Chinese bombers and fighter jets have entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone for the second day in a row in an unusual and provocative escalation of its military activities that has prompted the Joe Biden administration’s first public remarks on its relationship with Taipei.
Fifteen Chinese aircraft entered the Taiwanese defence zone on Sunday, Taiwan said, a day after 12 war planes including eight nuclear-capable H-6K bombers entered the airspace between mainland Taiwan and the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea.
Continue reading...Giant worm’s undersea lair discovered by fossil hunters in Taiwan
Scientists believe 2-metre-long burrow once housed predator that ambushed passing sea creatures
The undersea lair of a giant worm that ambushed passing marine creatures 20m years ago has been uncovered by fossil hunters in Taiwan.
Researchers believe the 2-metre-long burrow found in ancient marine sediment once housed a prehistoric predator that burst out of the seabed and dragged unsuspecting animals down into its lair.
Continue reading...Hong Kong: 11 more national security arrests over attempted boat escape to Taiwan
Eleven people, aged 18 to 72, have been arrested on suspicion of helping 12 democracy activists flee Hong Kong by boat last year
Hong Kong police have arrested 11 people under the national security law for allegedly helping 12 pro-democracy activists accused of attempting to flee the city by boat for Taiwan last year, local media and activists reported on Thursday.
Police arrested eight men and three women aged 18 to 72 for “assisting offenders”, according to the South China Morning Post, which cited unnamed sources.
Continue reading...China moves to punish lawyers who helped Hong Kong activists
Authorities threaten to revoke licences of pair who assisted group of 12 that tried to flee to Taiwan
Chinese authorities have threatened to end the careers of two lawyers who assisted 12 activists who tried to flee Hong Kong for Taiwan last August, 10 of whom were given jail terms by a Chinese court last week.
Ren Quanniu – who also represented the Wuhan citizen journalist Zhang Zhan – and Lu Siwei received notices from local departments of justice on Monday that authorities intended to revoke their licences and they had three days to arrange for a defence hearing.
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