Category Archives: Taiwan

Taiwanese man held in China ‘confesses’ on TV to filming troops on Hong Kong border

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Lee Meng-chu is accused of filming Chinese troops gathering at the border with Hong Kong during protests in 2019

A Taiwanese man detained in China and accused of endangering national security appeared on Chinese television on Sunday evening, “confessing” to illegally filming military exercises in a city bordering Hong Kong during protests there last year.

Human rights organisations accuse China of regularly forcing detainees to deliver public confessions broadcast on television, in a country where the opaque judicial system remains subject to the ruling Communist party.

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Taiwan’s president calls for less tension with China in annual address

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Tsai Ing-wen says she hopes ‘this is the beginning of genuine change’ after Xi Jinping’s UN speech saying Beijing would never seek hegemony

Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, says she has hopes for less tensions with China and in the region if Beijing will listen to Taipei’s concerns, alter its approach and restart dialogue with the self-ruled island democracy.

Speaking at Taiwan’s national day celebrations on Saturday, Tsai took note of recent remarks by Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, in a video message to the UN general assembly that China would never seek hegemony, expansion or to establish a sphere of influence.

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After Hong Kong: China sets sights on solving ‘the Taiwan problem’

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An invasion may not be imminent but experts say armed forces could have capacity to mount one by the end of the decade

Soon after China imposed the new national security law that effectively ended Hong Kong’s limited autonomy, a hawkish legal academic in Beijing spelt out a warning to Taiwan.

The law was not just about ending a year of protests in Hong Kong, Tian Feilong said in an interview with DW News, it was also sending a message to Taipei – and to Washington, which has recently approved new arms sales and high-level visits by US officials to self-rule Taiwan.

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Taiwan calls for global coalition against China’s aggression as US official flies in

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Taipei speaks of ‘real possibility’ of war as US undersecretary for economic affairs pays visit that Beijing regards as provocative

Taiwan’s foreign minister has called for the international community to help defend his country against an intensifying military threat from China, fearing “a real possibility” of war.

The comments from the minister, Joseph Wu, come before the expected arrival on Thursday in Taiwan of the US undersecretary for economic affairs, Keith Krach, with a delegation for a two-day visit.

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Pro-democracy boycott of Disney’s Mulan builds online via #milkteaalliance

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Liu Yifei, who stars as Chinese heroine, has voiced support for Hong Kong police during suppression of protests

Calls to boycott Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan have been reignited ahead of its release on Friday, with Thai pro-democracy activists joining those vowing to shun the film.

Controversy over Mulan erupted last year, when its star, Liu Yifei, voiced support for police in Hong Kong, who have been accused of using excessive force against protesters.

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Child lifted metres into the air by giant kite at Taiwan festival – video

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Footage shows a girl, 3, in Taiwan being lifted high into the air after becoming entangled in the strings of a kite. The unidentified girl was taking part in a kite festival on Sunday in the seaside town of Nanliao when she was hoisted several metres into the air by the giant, long-tailed orange kite. News reports said the girl was frightened but suffered no physical injuries in the incident. 


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Child, 3, catches in kite strings and is lifted high into air in Taiwan

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Girl became entangled in tail of giant kite at festival and was rescued unharmed

A three-year-old girl in Taiwan has been caught up in the strings of a kite and lifted high into the air in front of horrified onlookers, before being rescued unharmed.

The unidentified girl was taking part in a kite festival on Sunday in the seaside town of Nanliao, near Hsinchu City, when she became entangled in a giant, long-tailed orange kite and was hoisted off the ground by several metres.

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China unveils ‘Sky Thunder’ weapons system amid growing tensions with Taiwan

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The 500kg missile system was revealed days after the highest-level US visit to Taiwan in four decades

A new Chinese weapons system has been unveiled on state media amid growing tensions with Taiwan and the US.

Chinese state TV ran reports over the weekend about the Tianlei 500, which translates as Sky Thunder, a 500kg precision-guided munitions dispenser and air-to surface missile. The Tianlei can carry six types of submunitions and attack different targets, a senior engineer said in the report.

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Island nations have the edge in keeping Covid away – or most do

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Nations from New Zealand to Cuba closed borders promptly with strict quarantine rules, but the UK won’t admit its ‘serious mistake’

Island nations have an advantage when it comes to stopping travellers importing disease, be it Covid or other infections.

Seas are usually harder to cross than land, and beaches are easier to police. There are no cross-border towns, and fewer ways to sneak over frontiers.

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‘The next Hong Kong’: Taiwan’s foreign minister sounds warning over China

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Joseph Wu tells visiting US health secretary Taiwan lives under constant threat of its freedoms being quashed by Beijing

China is trying to turn Taiwan into another Hong Kong, the island’s foreign minister warned on Tuesday as he met with a senior US official making a historic diplomatic trip.

A crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong has gathered pace since China imposed a sweeping security law on the financial hub in June, with opposition politicians disqualified and activists arrested.

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US announces highest-level visit to Taiwan in decades, risking China anger

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In thinly veiled comments, coronavirus taskforce chair Alex Azar praises island as ‘model of transparency and cooperation’ during pandemic

A senior US official is to lead a delegation to Taiwan in the highest-level visit since 1979 to discuss the coronavirus pandemic and to “celebrate the shared values” of the two democracies – prompting China to urge the US not to “send the wrong signals to Taiwan secessionists”.

The US health secretary, Alex Azar, said he would be the first cabinet member to visit in six years, in the most significant trip there since the US formally cut diplomatic ties decades ago to pursue relations with the Chinese Communist party. Taiwan said the visit would take place in the coming days.

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Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan’s ‘father of democracy’, dies aged 97

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Nation’s first popularly elected president oversaw transition from martial law to democracy

Lee Teng-hui, known as Taiwan’s “father of democracy” and its first popularly elected president, has died, according to a statement from his family.

Lee, who oversaw Taiwan’s transition from martial law to one of the most vibrant democracies in Asia, died of septic shock and multiple organ failure at Taipei Veterans general hospital on Thursday evening. He had been in hospital for more than five months after choking while drinking milk and later contracting pneumonia. He was 97 years old.

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Taiwan thwarts Chinese ‘invasion’ in five-day live-fire drill

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Troops deploy fighter jets and warships in biggest annual war games as tensions rise

Taiwanese soldiers have fought off simulated coastal assaults from China during their biggest annual live-fire exercises of the year, as Beijing ramps up military pressure on the island.

The five-day drill, which began on Monday, tests how democratic Taiwan’s armed forces would repel an invasion from its neighbour.

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Hong Kong protesters flee to Taiwan to continue China resistance

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Activists estimate at least 200 protesters are in Taiwan, where authorities have discreetly allowed them to stay by extending tourist visas

After fleeing to Taiwan from the frontlines of the Hong Kong protests, Ben suffered a recurrent nightmare for months: he dreamed his fellow protesters were being tortured by police, but he couldn’t help.

Ten months on from seeking refuge in Taiwan, his feeling of helplessness has eased and his fighting spirit has returned. He is among dozens of former Hongkongers who are finding ways to resist Beijing from Taiwan.

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Global report: EU nations continue steady exits from lockdown

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Infections keep falling in EU but reports suggest Russian death toll much higher than official figures

France is to lift its state of emergency on 10 July, Denmark said opening its bars, restaurants and malls had not led to a rise in infections, and Austria will reopen its border with Italy next week as EU nations pursue their steady exits from lockdown.

However, Germany extended its coronavirus travel warnings for more than 160 countries outside Europe until the end of August and reports suggested that Moscow’s death toll may be twice as high as Russia’s official figures.

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Taiwan promises ‘support’ for Hong Kong’s people as China tightens grip

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President Tsai Ing-wen pledges ‘necessary assistance’ after a resurgence in protests against newly proposed security legislation from Beijing

Taiwan will provide the people of Hong Kong with “necessary assistance”, President Tsai Ing-wen has said, after a resurgence in protests in the Chinese-ruled territory against newly proposed national security legislation from Beijing.

Taiwan has become a refuge for a small but growing number of pro-democracy protesters fleeing Hong Kong, which has been convulsed since last year by protests.

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Why do female leaders seem to be more successful at managing the coronavirus crisis?

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Plenty of countries with male leaders have also done well. But few with female leaders have done badly

On 1 April, the prime minister of Sint Maarten addressed her nation’s 41,500 people. Coronavirus cases were rising, and Silveria Jacobs knew the small island country, which welcomes 500,000 tourists a year, was at great risk: it had two ICU beds.

Jacobs did not want to impose a strict lockdown, but she did want physical distancing observed. So she spelled it out: “Simply. Stop. Moving,” she said. “If you don’t have the bread you like in your house, eat crackers. Eat cereal. Eat oats. Eat … sardines.”

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China to prosecute first foreign national over Hong Kong protests

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Belizean national Lee Henley Hu Xiang accused of ‘colluding with foreign anti-China forces’

China is prosecuting its first foreign national for involvement in the Hong Kong protests, which racked the city for much of last year.

State media said on Friday that Guangzhou city’s national security bureau had finished investigations into Lee Henley Hu Xiang, a Belizean national and Taiwan resident, and his case had been transferred to the Guangzhou people’s procuratorate for prosecution.

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WHO warns of ‘deadly resurgence’ if coronavirus controls lifted too soon

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As global deaths pass 100,000, White House adviser also cautions against lifting restrictions

The World Health Organization has warned that a premature lifting of restrictions on peoples’ movements by countries fighting the coronavirus pandemic could spark a “deadly resurgence”, as global deaths from the virus passed the grim milestone of 100,000.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, said it was working with countries on ways in which lockdowns could be gradually eased, but said doing so too quickly could be dangerous.

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