Category Archives: Taiwan

Australian defence minister says conflict over Taiwan involving China ‘should not be discounted’

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Peter Dutton says Australia is focused on maintaining good relations with Beijing but China has been ‘very clear’ about its plans for reunification

The Australian defence minister, Peter Dutton, has said a conflict involving China over Taiwan cannot be discounted but he insists the government’s focus remains on having “good relations” with Beijing.

Dutton was on Sunday asked about the prospect of a “battle over Taiwan” following remarks from the former defence minister, Christopher Pyne, and the ex-prime minister, Tony Abbott, about China’s expansionist plans in the region.

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Secretary of state Blinken hits out at China over Taiwan and Covid

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Joe Biden’s secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Sunday the US is concerned about China’s aggressive actions against Taiwan and warned it would be a “serious mistake” for anyone to try to change the status quo in the western Pacific by force.

Related: Chaos Under Heaven: Trump as raging bull in a China policy shop

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Taiwan train crash: construction site manager released on bail

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Police suspect rail accident that killed at least 50 was caused by ‘improperly parked’ truck

A Taiwan court has released on bail the manager of a construction site whose truck is believed by authorities to have caused a train accident that killed at least 50 people. Prosecutors have said they will appeal the decision.

The Taroko Express was carrying almost 500 people down the island’s east coast on Friday, the first day of a religious festival when families gather to honour their ancestors, when it crashed in a tunnel just outside Hualien city.

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Taiwan train crash: dozens dead after express service derails in tunnel

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At least 50 people die as train crashes near Hualien City at the start of holiday weekend

Dozens of people have been killed in a train derailment on the east coast of Taiwan, the island’s worst rail disaster in decades.

The 408 Taroko Express was travelling south on the first day of a long weekend, carrying hundreds of passengers towards Taitung, when it crashed inside a tunnel just outside Hualien City at about 9.30am local time, authorities said.

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Dozens killed after train carrying about 350 people derails in eastern Taiwan – video report

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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.

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Palau to welcome first tourists in a year with presidential escort

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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.

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How Taiwan triumphed over Covid as the UK faltered

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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.

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China threat to invade Taiwan is ‘closer than most think’, says US admiral

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  • 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.

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China could invade Taiwan in next six years, top US admiral warns

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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.

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China calls on US to drop Trump-era sanctions and warns against ‘bullying’

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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.

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Spate of firecracker attacks on Taiwan’s invasive iguanas sparks alarm

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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”.

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Australian senator calls to recognise China’s treatment of Uighurs as genocide

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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.

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Number of Hong Kong residents moving to Taiwan nearly doubles in 2020

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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.

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Biden raises Taiwan and human rights with Xi Jinping in first phone call

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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.

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‘Bingeing free expression’: popularity of Clubhouse app soars in China

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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.

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Guyana calls off plan for Taiwan ties after Beijing criticizes ‘mistake’

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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.

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Taiwan waives Covid quarantine fine for man who was kidnapped

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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.

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From lockdowns to pool parties: how Covid rules vary around the world

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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.

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Australian military to continue patrolling South China Sea as Beijing warns Taiwan independence ‘means war’

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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.

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