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☆ China imposes further sanctions on Taiwan's U.S. representative
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

China has imposed further sanctions on Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the United States, prohibiting her and family members from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, state media reported on Friday. The sanctions, announced by China's Taiwan Affairs Office, also prohibit investors and firms related to Hsiao from cooperating with mainland organizations and individuals. They come after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a stopover in the United States this week. Others on the August sanctions list also include Taiwan foreign minister Joseph Wu and Secretary-General of Taiwan's National Security Council Wellington Koo, and DPP politicians. Chinese sanctions will have little practical impact as senior Taiwanese officials do not visit China while Chinese courts do not have jurisdiction in Taiwan.

"Wow, the PRC (People's Republic of China) just sanctioned me again, for the second time," Hsiao tweeted in response to the announcement. Taiwan's Foreign Ministry reacted angrily, saying China had no right to "butt in" when it came to Tsai's overseas trips and that Beijing was "deceiving itself" if it thought the sanctions would have any effect. China has also banned the leaders from entering the country, and frozen any properties they have in China, it said. Chinese sanctions will have little practical impact as senior Taiwanese officials do not visit China while Chinese courts do not have jurisdiction in Taiwan. Others on the August sanctions list include Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu; Wellington Koo, Secretary-General of Taiwan's National Security Council; and DPP politicians.

☆ Taiwan president discusses 'regional situation' ahead of McCarthy meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TAIPEI, April 5 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met with senior security officials on Tuesday to discuss the "regional situation" ahead of her meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California, which China has demanded not take place. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has threatened unspecified retaliation if the get-together, scheduled for Wednesday, happens. After then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August, China staged war games around Taiwan. Tsai "listened to a briefing on the overall regional situation", her office said in a statement. Taiwan has no far not reported any unusual Chinese military movements ahead of the McCarthy meeting.

☆ Honduras Establishes Diplomatic Ties with Beijing, Abandoning Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Joyu Wang | Selina Cheng | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Taiwan will close its embassy and consulate in Honduras, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said at a news conference in Taipei on Sunday. TAIPEI—Honduras has established diplomatic relations with China and formally cut ties with Taiwan, following through on a pledge this month to shift its official recognition to Beijing. With the loss of Honduras, Taiwan now has 13 diplomatic partners, most of them small states in Central America and the Pacific, with the Vatican its only official partner in Europe.

☆ Honduras forms diplomatic ties with China after Taiwan break
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The national flags of Honduras and Taiwan are seen at the Republic of China Square in Tegucigalpa on March 15, 2023. Honduras formed diplomatic ties with China on Sunday after breaking off relations with Taiwan, which is increasingly isolated and now recognized by only 13 sovereign states, including Vatican City. Relations between Taiwan and Honduras were once stable, he said, but China had not stopped luring Honduras. "The Castro government dismissed our nation's longstanding assistance and relations and carried out talks to form diplomatic ties with China. The U.S. doesn't have diplomatic relations with Taiwan but has maintained that Taipei is an important partner in the Indo-Pacific.

☆ Taiwan says China's involvement in Honduras is obvious
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, March 23 (Reuters) - Taiwan sees China's involvement in Honduras' decision to seek to end relations with the island as very obvious and the situation does not look good with Honduras demanding a "high price", the island's foreign minister said on Thursday. Honduras denied on Wednesday it had demanded $2.5 billion in aid from Taiwan before its announcement to seek to open relations with China, instead saying the country had repeatedly requested Taiwan buy Honduran public debt. read moreSpeaking to reporters at parliament, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said the situation with Honduras was "not very good". Honduras Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina said last week Honduras' decision was partly because the Central American country was "up to its neck" in financial challenges and debt - including $600 million it owes Taiwan. Wu, answering a lawmaker question, said Honduras did not just owe Taiwan money.

☆ Taiwan, facing loss of ally Honduras, says it won't bow to China
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] The flags of Taiwan and Honduras flutter in the wind outside the Taiwan Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras March 15, 2023. On Tuesday, Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced the government would seek diplomatic ties with Beijing, which would come at the expense of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory. "Over the years we have worked together with our diplomatic allies to support their national development plans in elevating the welfare of their people," he added. If Honduras ditched Taiwan, it would leave the island with only 13 diplomatic allies, mostly small and developing nations in Latin America, the Caribbean and Pacific. China says Taiwan is one of its provinces with no right to state-to-state ties, a view the democratically elected government in Taipei strongly rejects.

☆ Pacific's Micronesia in talks to switch ties from Beijing to Taiwan- letter
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

We can and will receive this, over a three year period, if and when we establish diplomatic relations with Taiwan," he wrote. In the letter, Panuelo accused China of waging "political warfare" in his country, and bribing his government's officials. Beijing and Taiwan have a history of competing in the Pacific islands, where four of Taiwan's 14 diplomatic allies are located. Two Pacific island nations, Kiribati and Solomon Islands, cut diplomatic ties with democratically ruled Taiwan in 2019 after offers of aid from China, which views Taiwan as its own territory. Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Lincoln Feast.

☆ Taiwan Foreign Minister Held High-Level Meeting in Washington
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Joyu Wang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

TAIPEI—Taiwan’s foreign minister traveled to the U.S. this week for an unusual high-level meeting with senior American officials in the Washington area. Photos and video from Taiwan’s state-run Central News Agency showed Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and National Security Council chief Wellington Koo waving as they left the Washington headquarters of the American Institute in Taiwan, along with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and other U.S. officials.

☆ White House to hold talks with Taiwan officials in Washington - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 18 (Reuters) - The White House will meet senior Taiwan officials next week in Washington for talks meant to be private to avoid an angry reaction from China, the Financial Times reported on Saturday. Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and National Security Adviser Wellington Koo would lead the delegation, the newspaper said, citing five people familiar with the talks whom it did not name. The Taiwanese team will meet U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, the FT said. Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Czech parliament chief assures Taiwan of her support after outcry in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks with Czech President-elect Petr Pavel on a conference call in Taipei, Taiwan January 30, 2023 in this handout picture. Taiwan Presidential Office/Handout via REUTERSPRAGUE, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Czech lower house of parliament speaker Marketa Pekarova Adamova on Wednesday assured Taiwan of her country's support for partner states who respect human rights and liberal democracy, ahead of a visit to Taipei planned for March. The Czechs have been intensifying relations with the self-ruled island, which giant neighbour China claims as its own, and President-elect Petr Pavel spoke with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen on Monday, drawing a sharp rebuke from Beijing. "I assured the minister that systematic support of partners who respect human rights and the principles of liberal democracy belongs among priorities of our parliamentary diplomacy," she said in a statement issued through her spokesman. Most countries avoid high-level public interactions with Taiwan and its president, not wishing to provoke China, the world's second largest economy.

☆ As the world courts TSMC, Taiwan worries about losing its ‘silicon shield’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

TSMC is considered a national treasure in Taiwan and supplies tech giants including Apple (AAPL) and Qualcomm (QCOM). Chiu claimed that the chip giant was under political pressure to move its operations and its most advanced technology to the US. In response, Wu said there was no secret deal, nor was there any attempt to diminish the importance of Taiwan to TSMC. But he believes the company will continue to manufacture its most advanced technology at home. Many experts believe that by the time 3-nanometer chips are being made in Arizona, TSMC’s Taiwan operations would be producing even smaller, more advanced chips.

☆ Australia's PM says he's not in group of Australian MPs to visit Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attends the APEC Leader's Dialogue with APEC Business Advisory Council during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in Bangkok, Thailand. The group, which includes Australia's governing Labor Party and opposition Liberal-National coalition MPs, will fly to Taiwan on Sunday and is the first delegation of its type to visit there since 2019, The Australian newspaper reported on Saturday. Albanese on Saturday described the trip as a "backbench" visit to Taiwan, not a government-led one. "There remains a bipartisan position when it comes to China and when it comes to support for the status quo on Taiwan," Albanese told reporters in the town of Renmark, in South Australia state. The group will reportedly meet with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, with the visit having support from Taiwan's foreign ministry.

[1/2] Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen announces to resign as Democratic Progressive Party chair to take responsibility for the party's performance in the local elections in Taipei, Taiwan, November 26, 2022. REUTERS/Ann WangTAIPEI, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Attention is turning to Taiwan's next presidential election in 2024 after the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was thrashed at local elections on Saturday, with President Tsai Ing-wen's move to focus on China backfiring with voters. Speaking to reporters late on Saturday at party headquarters, its chairman Eric Chu said the KMT understood that only by uniting could it win. But Tsai's strategy failed to mobilise voters, who disassociated geopolitics from the local elections which traditionally focus more on issues from crime to pollution. Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said last week Taiwan was seeing less Chinese interference ahead of the local elections, possibly due to China's own domestic problems and its efforts to improve its international image.

☆ Taiwan says it sees less Chinese interference ahead of elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Speaking to reporters ahead of Saturday's elections in Taiwan for mayors and councillors, Wu said China was always a factor when Taiwan voted, but this time around Beijing was meddling less. "I would describe it as that the Chinese interference in our election is not as prevailing as previous elections," he said. China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment. While China's military activities have continued, they have been at a much reduced scale. Wu said the elections were important for China too as Taiwan was a model for democracy in the Chinese-speaking world.

HONG KONG — Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s first two terms in power were marked by intensifying competition and tensions with the United States. The United States does not seek conflict with China, Biden told a meeting of his top military advisers Wednesday. “China stands ready to work with the United States to find the right way to get along with each other in the new era,” he said. But China under Xi has a “superficial stability,” Johnson said. Hulton Deutsch / Corbis via Getty ImagesAt 69, Xi has appointed no obvious successor, indicating he may plan to stay in power indefinitely.

☆ China likely to ramp up diplomatic 'attacks' on Taiwan, island's foreign minister says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, Oct 26 (Reuters) - China is likely to ramp up its diplomatic "attacks" on Taiwan following last week's twice-a-decade congress, including snatching more of the island's few remaining diplomatic allies, Taiwan's foreign minister said on Wednesday. "China is likely to increase its attacks and threats o Taiwan, especially in the diplomatic field," Wu told lawmakers. Wu said Taiwan has received "signs" and intelligence from unspecified diplomatic allies that China was boosting efforts to lure the island's allies into switching official recognition to Beijing. Under Wu's term, six countries have switched official recognition from Taipei to Beijing, which says Taiwan has no right to state-to-state ties. China has stepped up diplomatic and military pressure to try to force Taiwan to accept Chinese rule.

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