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☆ Taiwan says it hopes to bring back soldier who went to China
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, March 14 (Reuters) - Taiwan's defence minister said on Tuesday that the government is investigating the disappearance of a soldier serving on an offshore island who has been found in China, and vowed to bring him back. Speaking to reporters at parliament, Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said: "We certainly hope to bring him back home. The minister denied what he called rumours that the soldier had fled from abusive treatment by the military. The soldier, serving on Erdan islet close to the Chinese coast, went missing last week and was found on Monday. China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has over the past three years stepped up military and political pressure to try and get Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty.

☆ Taiwan says soldier who went missing has been found in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, March 13 (Reuters) - A Taiwanese soldier serving on an islet close to the Chinese coast who went missing last week has been found in China, a senior Taiwan minister said on Monday, an incident that has happened amid heightened tensions. Speaking to reporters in parliament, Chiu Tai-san, head of Taiwan's China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council, said the soldier was in China. The defence ministry and relevant departments are actively aware of the relevant progress and situation," he said. China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has over the past three years stepped up its military and political pressure to try and get Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty. During the height of the Cold War, defectors from both sides would on occasion swim between China and Kinmen.

REUTERS/Tyrone SiuTAIPEI, March 13 (Reuters) - Taiwan's defence spending this year will focus on preparing weapons and equipment for a "total blockade" by China, including parts for F-16 fighters and replenishing weapons, the military said in a report. Xi also said that when it came to Taiwan, China must oppose pro-independence and secessionist activities and the interference of external forces. Taiwan's defence ministry said China has systematically increased the strength of its "joint combat readiness" actions around Taiwan. That is more than double the number from a year earlier and poses a "substantial threat" to Taiwan's defence, the ministry said. China has been "normalising" no-navigation zones around the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea and the Taiwan Strait, the ministry added.

☆ Taiwan wary of China charm offensive ahead of presidential vote - agency
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Yimou Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

As Taipei and Beijing gradually resume travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan security officials expect China to relaunch an influence campaign that in the past included all-expenses-paid trips to China for Taiwan politicians. China refuses to talk to the government, believing Tsai is a separatist for refusing to accept Beijing's long-standing position that China and Taiwan both belong to "one China". "They might want Taiwanese to support certain political parties who support closer economic ties with the mainland," a Taiwan security official investigating the matter told Reuters. Also last month, a group of Chinese officials made their first visit to Taiwan in three years to attend a cultural event in the capital, Taipei. A second senior Taiwan security official said the island should be "on high alert" for efforts by China to press its message on reunification.

☆ Chinese officials arrive in Taiwan on first post-pandemic visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Liu Xiaodong, Deputy Head of the Shanghai office of China's Taiwan Affairs Office and head of the delegation of Chinese officials visiting Taiwan, walks out of the arrival hall at Taipei Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan February 18, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia RawlinsTAIPEI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A group of Chinese officials arrived in Taiwan on Saturday on the first visit in three years, since the COVID-19 pandemic began, to attend a cultural event at a time of soaring military tensions across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan's government this week allowed the trip of six officials, lead by Liu Xiaodong, deputy head of the Shanghai office of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, to attend the Lantern Festival in Taipei, at the invitation of the city government. Chilly Chen, head of the pro-independence Taiwan Republic Office, told Reuters the Taiwanese people were very hospitable and welcomed visitors but were concerned they were coming to push Chinese policies on the democratic island. But China continues to carry out military activities near Taiwan, including almost daily crossings of the Taiwan Strait's median line by Chinese air force jets, which had previously served as an unofficial barrier.

☆ Senior Taiwan opposition leader to visit China amid continued tensions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, Feb 6 (Reuters) - A senior leader of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's main opposition party, will visit China this week and meet its top Taiwan policy-maker, the party said on Monday, amid continued military and political tensions between the two sides. China has over the past three years ramped up pressure on Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty, including staging regular military drills near the democratically-governed island. The KMT said its Deputy Chairman Andrew Hsia would leave for China on Wednesday and meet Song Tao, the newly appointed head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, in a rare high-level interaction between top politicians from Taiwan and China given the current strains. China's Taiwan Affairs Office said it welcomed Hsia's visit. The KMT has defended its outreach to China, saying it is important to keep lines of communication open.

☆ Taiwan mulls WTO case after latest Chinese import bans
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained for the past two years of Chinese import bans on various agricultural and aquatic goods, including pineapples and grouper fish, saying it is part of a Chinese pressure campaign. Speaking to reporters, Su said China was using administrative means to "interfere" in normal trade which is not in line with WTO norms. The government will do its best to communicate with relevant Chinese departments on the issue, he added. "If there is any non-compliance with the relevant WTO norms, we will also follow the relevant channels to file a complaint." It said it hoped that Taiwanese companies will provide the information that meets government requirements as soon as possible.

☆ 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.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment. the person said, adding that the calls would connect but Chinese officials wouldn't pick up. Based on a long-standing practice, faxes continue to be exchanged between two semi-official organisations that handle routine affairs: Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation and China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. The council told Reuters that while Chinese officials do not reply directly, they have handled Taiwanese requests when needed or responded through public statements. China this year labeled Tsai's administration "evil" while Taiwan called China "incredibly absurd".

By pointing to 2027 as the moment when East Asia's power balance may tip in China's favour, Japan's government can rally support for greater defence spending, he added. At a congressional hearing last year, U.S. Indo-Pacific commander Admiral Philip Davidson said that China's threat against Taiwan could "manifest" that year. Japanese defence ministry officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In July, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida won national upper house elections with a pledge to "substantially" increase defence spending. The splurge of defence spending should also benefit U.S. suppliers such as Lockheed, Boeing Co (BA.N) and Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N).

☆ Taiwan says China looking at Ukraine war to develop 'hybrid' strategies
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

TAIPEI, Oct 12 (Reuters) - China is looking at the experience of the war in Ukraine to develop "hybrid warfare" strategies against Taiwan including using drones and psychological pressure, a senior Taiwanese security official said on Wednesday. "This year, the communist military has borrowed from the experience of the Russia-Ukraine war to develop 'hybrid warfare' against Taiwan and strengthen its combat training and preparation against strong enemies," he told lawmakers. China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chen said China's military threats had coalesced support from the United States and its allies for Taiwan to ensure what happened to Ukraine would not be repeated across the Taiwan Strait. This will enhance Taiwan's ability to deal with China and deter "their plots to attack Taiwan", he said.

She also outlined steps to boost the military including with mass production of precision missiles and warships. Xi is widely expected to win his third term at the one-every-five-years party congress. "When we say achievement, for Taiwan it's definitely not a good sign, it's not a good thing," Lin said. One senior Taiwanese security official said Xi's third term would bring "unpredictable tensions" across the strait. But China has refused to speak to his successor, Tsai, since she was first elected in 2016, believing her to be a separatist.

A Taiwan Coast Guard ship travels past the coast of China, in the waters off Nangan island of Matsu archipelago in Taiwan August 16, 2022. REUTERS/Ann WangTAIPEI, Sept 23 (Reuters) - A Chinese blockade of Taiwan or the seizure of an offshore island would be considered an act of war and Taiwan would not surrender, a senior Taiwanese security official told Reuters using unusually strong and direct language. Chinese military action might not be as straightforward as a full frontal assault on Taiwan: it could include actions like a blockade to try to force Taiwan to accept China's rule, strategists say. To show its anger, China mounted military exercises around Taiwan that included firing missiles and steps to mount a blockade. "A blockade is an act of war; seizing an offshore island is an act of war," the official said, adding Taipei believed Beijing was unlikely to take either of those actions at the moment.

☆ China willing to make effort for peaceful 'reunification' with Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Ann Wang/File PhotoBEIJING, Sept 21 (Reuters) - China is willing to make the utmost effort to strive for a peaceful "reunification" with Taiwan, a Chinese government spokesperson said on Wednesday, following weeks of military manoeuvres and war games by Beijing near the island. China claims democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory. Taiwan's government rejects China's sovereignty claims and says only the island's people can decide their future. China has been carrying out drills near Taiwan since early last month, after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, including firing missiles into waters near the island. Taiwan's government says that as the island has never been ruled by the People's Republic of China, its sovereignty claims are void.

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