Category Archives: Taiwan

Taiwan Strait: footage released of near miss between Chinese warship and US destroyer

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US military says its ship had to reduce speed to avoid a collision and accuses China of violating maritime rules of safe passage in international water

The US military has released video of what it called an “unsafe” Chinese manoeuvre in the Taiwan Strait on the weekend, in which a Chinese navy ship cut sharply across the path of an American destroyer, forcing the US ship to slow to avoid a collision.

The incident occurred on Saturday as the American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal were conducting a so-called “freedom of navigation” transit of the strait between Taiwan and mainland China.

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Li Shangfu: China’s defence minister at Shangri-La Dialogue warns of ‘cold war mentality’ in digs at US

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After refusing to meet with his US counterpart, general says ‘some countries’ interfering in others’ business but Beijing does not seek confrontation

China’s defence minister, Li Shangfu, has said a cold war mentality is resurgent in the Asia-Pacific region, but Beijing seeks dialogue over confrontation. The remarks came after Li refused to formally meet the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

Speaking at the dialogue, Asia’s top security summit, on Sunday, Li took thinly veiled digs at the US, repeating familiar grievances and accusing “some countries” of intensifying an arms race and interfering in the internal affairs of others.

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Outcry as World Health Assembly locks out Taiwan under pressure from China

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Taipei criticises ‘unfair and unjust’ decision to deny observer status despite support from US, UK, France and other countries

The World Health Assembly has again rejected Taiwan’s request to join its annual gathering amid routine objections from China and despite strong support from a coalition of countries including the US, UK, France and Australia.

The assembly – the forum through which the World Health Organization is governed – on Monday decided not to extend an invitation for Taiwan to attend the 21-30 May event in Geneva as an observer. China and Pakistan spoke against the bid, while the Marshall Islands, Belize, Nauru and Eswatini – four of Taiwan’s 13 formal diplomatic allies – spoke in support.

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As G7 leaders start to arrive, Japan PM prepares push in Hiroshima for nuclear weapons pledge

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Ukraine and China’s Taiwan ambitions are expected to dominate summit discussions, but Fumio Kishida will have a powerful backdrop

The war in Ukraine and Chinese aggression towards Taiwan will dominate G7 discussions this week, but host Fumio Kishida is expected to carve out time to push for a pledge on nuclear weapons when leaders meet in Hiroshima, the first place on Earth targeted by an atomic bomb.

The leaders began to arrive on Thursday, ahead of an expected visit on Saturday to the city’s Peace Memorial Museum, which contains exhibits showing the scale of the tragedy that unfolded after the US dropped a nuclear bomb on the morning of 6 August 1945, killing 140,000 people by the end of the year.

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Rishi Sunak seeks to build stronger defence with Japan at Tokyo G7

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PM expected to unveil Hiroshima accord at meeting with Japan’s Fumio Kishida amid fears of China’s rising militarisation

Rishi Sunak will seek to build a stronger defence with Japan amid fears of China’s rising militarisation as he travels to Tokyo and Hiroshima for the G7 summit.

The prime minister will be accompanied by his wife, Akshata Murty, on their first official visit since he entered No 10 for the meeting of leaders from the US, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, Italy and the EU.

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Liz Truss in Taiwan calls for ‘economic Nato’ to challenge China

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Former British PM says Taiwan is ‘on the front line of the global battle for freedom’ during trip that China has called a ‘dangerous political show’

Free nations must commit themselves to a free Taiwan and must be prepared to back it up with concrete measures, Liz Truss has said in a keynote speech in Taipei, in which she called for an “economic Nato” to tackle Beijing’s growing authoritarianism.

The former British prime minister said she had come to show support for Taiwan, which was “on the frontline of the global battle for freedom”, under threat from a totalitarian regime in China. Truss arrived in Taiwan on Monday for a five-day visit, and is expected to meet senior government officials.

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Liz Truss’s plan to visit Taiwan called ‘worst kind of Instagram diplomacy’

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Alicia Kearns, foreign affairs select committee chair, launches blistering attack on former prime minister

The Conservative chair of the foreign affairs select committee has launched a blistering attack on Liz Truss over the former prime minister’s planned trip to Taiwan, calling it “the worst kind of Instagram diplomacy”.

Alicia Kearns said she thought Truss’s trip planned for next week was little more than a vanity project aimed at keeping her profile high after her brief spell as prime minister last year.

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Liz Truss to visit Taiwan and give speech that could upset UK’s China strategy

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Ex-PM, who is trying to revive career, says she will ‘show solidarity’ with Taiwan after Nancy Pelosi visit sparked furore

Liz Truss is to visit Taiwan next week, where she will deliver a speech likely to anger Beijing and potentially upset the UK government’s careful approach to China relations.

The former prime minister said on Tuesday: “Taiwan is a beacon of freedom and democracy. I’m looking forward to showing solidarity with the Taiwanese people in person in the face of increasingly aggressive behaviour and rhetoric from the regime in Beijing.”

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China accuses Australia of trying to sabotage its relationships in Pacific region

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Beijing says US, Australia and New Zealand have ‘a cold war mentality’ and are driving up geopolitical tensions

China has accused Australia of attempting to sabotage its relationships in the Pacific, saying Australia has a “cold war mentality” and is blinded by “ideological prejudice”.

Senior Chinese diplomats said Australia has undermined Beijing’s security and law enforcement cooperation with Fiji, alleging its relations with Fiji are being “targeted” by Australia, the US and New Zealand.

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China revises military conscription laws in space warfare push

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Modernisation of People’s Liberation Army continues with focus on cyberwarfare while retirees are now allowed to re-enlist

China’s government has revised its conscription laws, allowing retired service people to re-enlist and increasing recruitment focused on expertise in space and cyberwarfare.

The amended regulations, approved by the state council and the central military commission, came into force on Monday, and covered all aspects of China’s military recruitment and personnel deployment processes, for domestic emergencies and wartime.

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Paraguay’s Taiwan ties safe as ruling party retains presidency

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Santiago Peña of the Colorado party is elected, defeating Efraín Alegre who wanted to switch diplomatic recognition to China

Paraguay’s ruling party candidate, Santiago Peña, 44, has scored a big win in the presidential election, tightening the conservative Colorado party’s political grip and defusing fears that diplomatic ties with Taiwan might have been cut.

Peña, who has pledged to maintain Paraguay’s longstanding Taiwan relations, had 42.7% of the vote with more than 99% of ballots counted – a more than 15-point lead over centre-left rival Efraín Alegre, who has argued for switching allegiance to China.

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Chinese TB-001 drone flies around Taiwan in rare encirclement, says island’s military

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‘Twin-tailed scorpion’ drone that entered air defence identification zone is touted as being capable of high-altitude, long-range missions

A Chinese combat drone that state media says can carry a heavy weapons payload has flown around Taiwan, according to the island’s defence ministry.

The ministry said a TB-001 drone was one of 19 military aircraft that had entered the island’s air defence identification zone in 24 hours.

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If China invaded Taiwan it would destroy world trade, says James Cleverly

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UK foreign secretary warns a war across Taiwan strait and likely destruction of semiconductor industry would have global effects

A Chinese invasion of Taiwan would destroy world trade, and distance would offer no protection to the inevitable catastrophic blow to the global economy, the UK’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, warned in a set piece speech on Britain’s relations with Beijing.

In remarks that differ from French president Emmanuel Macron’s attempts to distance Europe from any potential US involvement in a future conflict over Taiwan, and which firmly support continued if guarded engagement with Beijing, Cleverly said “no country could shield itself from the repercussions of a war in Taiwan”.

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Fears grow for Taiwan book publisher believed held in China

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Reported detention of Li Yanhe has echoes of 2015 disappearances of five Hong Kong booksellers

Concerns are mounting for a Taiwan-based book publisher believed to have been detained in China, in a case that has echoed the disappearances in 2015 of five Hong Kong booksellers.

Li Yanhe, also known by the pen-name Fucha, reportedly travelled to Shanghai last month to visit relatives but has been uncontactable since Thursday. His alleged detention was first reported by Bei Ling, a Chinese writer and activist, who said on Facebook that he had been told by various sources that Li had been arrested by authorities in Shanghai.

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Taiwan Strait: top EU diplomat calls for European navy patrols

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Josep Borrell says safeguard would show Europe’s commitment to the ‘absolutely crucial’ area

European navies should patrol the disputed Taiwan Strait, the EU foreign policy chief has said, echoing earlier comments stressing how crucial Taiwan is to Europe.

Josep Borrell wrote in an opinion piece in the Journal Du Dimanche that Taiwan “concerns us economically, commercially and technologically”.

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War of words: Australia can expect a hostile response from China to strategic defence review

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Experts say Australia should look beyond criticism that is largely for domestic Chinese consumption and engage on a broader level

Australia’s strategic defence review, to be made public on Monday, is likely to spark a hostile response from China and set off a new round of claim and counterclaim about the precarious relationship between the two countries.

Sir Angus Houston, the former head of the Australian military who led the review with the former defence minister Stephen Smith, said when it was launched last year the strategic circumstances were “the worst I have ever seen in my career and lifetime”.

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Taiwan foreign minister warns of conflict with China in 2027

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Comments indicate extent to which Taiwan is trying to bolster western support before possible invasion

Taiwan’s foreign minister has said he is preparing for the possibility of a conflict with China in 2027.

Speaking on LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr, Joseph Wu said: “We are taking the Chinese military threat very seriously … I think 2027 is the year that we need to be serious about.”

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China likely to rapidly achieve air superiority over Taiwan, US leaks say

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Documents among those shared by alleged leaker raise questions over island’s military readiness

China would probably establish air superiority very rapidly in any attack on Taiwan, according to leaked US intelligence assessments that raise disturbing questions about the self-ruled island’s military readiness.

The documents, part of a series allegedly leaked by the US air national guardsman Jack Teixeira, emerged as G7 foreign ministers met to discuss a common China strategy and Beijing briefly halted flights over part of the East China Sea on Sunday.

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Taiwan warns local media against spreading false news from China

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Defence ministry says it cannot rule out ‘cognitive warfare tactics’ after disinformation during Chinese drills

Taiwan’s defence ministry has raised the alarm about disinformation attacks during the recent Chinese military drills and alerted local media to the dangers of helping spread disinformation.

Last week Beijing launched three days of military exercises near Taiwan, in retaliation for President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with the US House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, in the US. Taiwan’s military and civilian analysts confirmed that Taiwan was also targeted with information warfare. “Last year’s military exercise and this year’s military exercise both used a combination of information and military actions to affect our morale,” a defence spokesperson said on Wednesday.

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Macron stands by divisive remark about US allies ‘not being vassals’

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French president reaffirms Sunday’s call for Europe to act more independently from US over China and Taiwan

Emmanuel Macron has stood by his controversial comments on Taiwan, repeating that being a US ally did not mean being a “vassal”.

At the end of a state visit to the Netherlands during which he has also faced protests over pension reforms at home, Macron appeared to reaffirm the remarks he made in an interview on Sunday, in which he called for Europe to act more independently from the US over Taiwan.

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