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- Taiwan President Lauds Friendship with Haiti on State Visit (2019-07-14)
(CNA, By Wen Kuei-hsiang and Elizabeth Hsu)
President Tsai Ing-wen spoke at the opening ceremony of a Taiwan trade fair jointly hosted by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taiwan External Trade Development Council in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. Tsai spoke about Haiti’s friendship and the two’s joint economic projects, such as the planned project to upgrade Haiti’s electric grid, which has yet to be approved by Haiti’s parliament. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - Taiwan Willing to Expand Cooperation with Kiribati: Su Jia-chyuan (2019-07-14)
(CNA, By Chen Chun-hu and Emerson Lin)
After visiting Kiribati last week, Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan said via Facebook Sunday that Taiwan would be happy to expand cooperation with Kiribati. He said that Taiwan would specifically be willing to expand cooperation with its diplomatic ally in the area of fishery. He also congratulated Kiribati on its fortieth anniversary of independence. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - U.S. Urges China to Stop Imposing Political Views on U.S. Companies (2019-07-16)
(CNA, By Chiang Chin-yeh and intern Ching Yi Huang)
Following China’s threats to impose sanctions on American companies selling weapons to Taiwan, the U.S. State Department responded discouraging Beijing from “imposing its political views on the U.S. and foreign companies”. A State Department spokesperson also reiterated that the U.S.’ policy regarding arms sales to Taiwan remains unchanged and is aimed at promoting regional stability and peace. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - Tsai Decorated by St. Kitts Government, Touts Strong Bilateral Ties (2019-07-16)
(CNA, By Wen Kuei-Hsiang and Joseph Yeh)
While visiting St. Kitts and Nevis on Monday, President Tsai Ing-wen received the Order of St. Christopher medal of honor in recognition of her efforts to advance St. Kitts’ and Taiwan’s bilateral ties. She praised St. Kitts’ development and looked back to St. Kitts’ gaining of its independence in 1983 and how Taiwan was its first ally. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - MOFA Lauds Czech Republic’s Protection of 8 Taiwanese Wanted by China (2019-07-16)
(CNA, By Lin Yu-li and Emerson Lim)
Last week, the Czech Republic decided to offer subsidiary protection to the eight Taiwanese fraud suspects detained in Prague, despite Beijing’s request that they be extradited to China for trial. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs praised the Czech government’s decision, saying that it showed its morality and commitment to human rights. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - Han Kuo-yu Wins KMT Primary for 2020 Presidential Race (Update) (2019-07-15)
(CNA, By Joseph Yeh) Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu will be the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) candidate in the 2020 Taiwanese presidential elections. The candidate was selected based upon popularity polling as well as polling on their chances of winning in a hypothetical three-way race between President Tsai and independent Ko Wen-je. The KMT will formally declare Han as the party candidate at the party congress on July 28. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - MND Downplays Recent PLA Drills Near Taiwan (2019-07-15)
(Taipei Times/CNA) The Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense (MND) has stated that the Chinese People's Liberation Army's (PLA) recent military exercises near Taiwan were part of the PLA's routine annual drills and were unconnected with the Taiwan-United States arms sale. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense released a similar statement, clarifying that the exercises were in accordance with the PLA's annual plans. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - Taiwan Welcomes Caribbean Ally's Move to Set Up Embassy (2019-07-13)
(CNA, By Elaine Hou and Ko Lin) St. Vincent and the Grenadines announced Saturday that the island nation intends to establish an embassy in Taiwan. The Caribbean country currently maintains a consulate general in Taipei and is the only nation of the 17 with formal ties to Taiwan that does not maintain an embassy. President Tsai Ing-wen will be visiting the island on July 16 and 17. <Accessed 2019-07-14> - Taiwan Defends US Arms Deal After China Sanctions Threat (2019-07-13)
(Associated Press, By Staff Writer) China announced Friday that it would implement sanctions on US companies involved in the $2.2 billion arms sale between the United States and Taiwan. Both Taiwanese government agencies and President Tsai Ing-wen have defended the arms sale decision by the United States, stating that the deal will help ensure national security amid growing threats from China. China has also protested Tsai's trip to the Caribbean that includes stops in the United States. <Accessed 2019-07-14> - Hong Kong Protesters, Police Clash as Demonstrations Target Chinese Traders (2019-07-13)
(Reuters, By Greg Torode and Vimvam Tong) Hong Kong protesters and police clashed this Saturday near the Hong Kong - China border. Protesters gathered in opposition to price increases supposedly caused by "parallel traders," Chinese merchants who enter Hong Kong to buy goods to be carried back into China duty-free and sold at a markup. Hong Kong protesters have begun to focus on more issues than just the proposed extradition bill, expanding their scope to other domestic issues. <Accessed 2019-07-14> - China Throws Support Behind Hong Kong's Lam Ahead of New Protest (2019-07-11)
(Bloomberg, By Natalie Lung) Wang Zhimin, director of China's liaison office in Hong Kong and the top Chinese official in the city, stated Thursday that China supports Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam in the face of the recent Hong Kong protests. Both Wang and China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs hinted at the involvement of "foreign forces" in the provocation of the unrest. Another anti-extradition bill protest will be held this Sunday. <Accessed 2019-07-12> - Taiwanese Identity Rises for the First Time in Four Years: Poll (2019-07-11)
(CNA, By Yeh Su-ping and Chung Yu-chen) The number of Taiwanese citizens that identify as "Taiwanese" has risen the past year after four years of consecutive decline. According to the survey, 56.9% identify as only "Taiwanese," 36.5% identify as both "Taiwanese" and "Chinese," and 3.6% identify as solely "Chinese." The poll's director cites issues such as the protests in Hong Kong and President Xi Jinping's Taiwan policy speech in January for the uptick. <Accessed 2019-07-12>
- Chinese Admiral: Solve South China Sea Dispute by Sinking Navy Aircraft Carriers (2019-07-16)
(The National Interest, By Dario Leone) Rear Admiral Lou Yuan, deputy head of the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, during a speech to an audience in Shenzhen, remarked that by sinking two U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, the ongoing disputes over the ownership of the East and South China Seas could be resolved. Lou identified "five cornerstones of the U.S." that China could take advantage of. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - The Reed Bank Crisis: A Call for Upgrading the Philippine-U.S. Alliance (2019-07-10)
(CSIS, By Richard Javad Heydarian) Three years into office, Duterte is facing growing pressure to upgrade, rather than vitiate or abandon, the Philippines’ sole treaty alliance, thanks to China’s increasingly aggressive behavior in disputed waters. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - China Vows Sanctions on U.S. Firms Selling Arms to Taiwan (2019-07-12)
(New York Times, By Raymond Zhong) China said on Friday that it would impose sanctions on American companies involved in the recently proposed sale of more than $2 billion in arms to Taiwan. The move could further strain ties between the two large powers, whose governments have been targeting each other’s businesses for punishment as a tariff war boils. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - A Koch Executive’s Harassment in China Adds to Fears Among Visitors (2019-07-11)
(New York Times, By Paul Mozur, Alexandra Stevenson and Edward Wong) Business executives, Washington officials and other frequent visitors to China who were interviewed by The New York Times expressed increasing alarm about the Chinese authorities’ harassment of Americans by holding them for questioning and preventing them from leaving the country. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - Trump’s Asia Gamble: Shatter Enduring Strategies on China and North Korea (2019-07-11)
(New York Times, By Edward Wong) The shifts were prompted by internal changes in each country, combined with Mr. Trump’s unorthodox instincts and the views of his senior Asia advisers. The administration now has growing bipartisan support in Washington to widen an emerging global conflict with China and build diplomacy with North Korea. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - Taiwan President Risks Infuriating China With U.S. Visit (2019-07-11)
(New York Times, By Rick Gladstone) The leader of Taiwan, the self-governing island of 24 million claimed by China, visited the United States on Thursday and said her people would “never be intimidated,” risking China’s wrath and a further fraying of ties between Beijing and the Trump administration. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - Taiwan Set to Receive $2 Billion in U.S. Arms, Drawing Ire From China (2019-07-09)
(New York Times, By Chris Horton) The United States has tentatively approved the sale of $2 billion in military hardware to Taiwan, demonstrating support for its unofficial ally in a move likely to exacerbate deteriorating ties between Washington and Beijing. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - Extradition Bill Is ‘Dead,’ Says Hong Kong Leader, Carrie Lam (2019-07-08)
(New York Times, By Amy Qin) Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, made her most emphatic promise yet on Tuesday that a contentious extradition bill would not be revived, but she stopped short of offering further concessions to protesters, who rejected the gesture and set the stage for more demonstrations. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - Hong Kong Protesters Take Their Message to Chinese Tourists (2019-07-07)
(New York Times, By Amy Qin) While previous marches have been held in the downtown financial and business districts of Hong Kong Island, the march on Sunday is the first to take place in Kowloon, an area of Hong Kong that is attached to the Chinese mainland. It is being billed as an opportunity to engage with mainland Chinese in the hope that they will back the protesters. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - China Ignoring US Demand for Trade War Reform by Reinforcing State-Directed Economic Model (2019-07-13)
(South China Morning Post, By Frank Tang) China is reinforcing its state-directed economic model despite demands for change from the United States as a condition to end the trade war, and is in fact increasing the influence of state-owned enterprises and the Communist Party’s intrusion into the boardrooms of private companies, as highlighted by a string of recent events. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - Beijing Security Forum Shows How Chinese Military Takes Belt and Road Route to Africa (2019-07-13)
(South China Morning Post, By Sarah Zheng) On Sunday, Beijing will open the week-long China-Africa Peace and Security Forum, where defence ministers and military chiefs are expected to discuss cooperation, a peace and security fund, and defence capacity building among African states. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - China Should Avoid Moves Seen as ‘Trying to Split Europe’, Former European Commission Chief Says (2019-07-12)
(South China Morning Post, By Stuart Lau) China should avoid diplomatic moves that could be seen as dividing Europe, as it would not be in Beijing’s long-term interest, former European Commission president Romano Prodi says. In a wide-ranging interview this week, Prodi also called on the European Union to build what he described as a “shared decision-making process” with China for projects under the Beijing-led Belt and Road Initiative. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - China and Vietnam in Stand-off over Chinese Survey Ship Mission to Disputed Reef in South China Sea (2019-07-12)
(South China Morning Post, By Liu Zhen) Chinese and Vietnamese coastguard vessels have been involved in a week-long confrontation over a reef in the South China Sea, risking the biggest clash between the two nations in five years. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - European Union Will Have Huawei Risk Measures in Place ‘by End of the Year’ (2019-07-11)
(South China Morning Post, By Lee Jeong-ho) European Union countries will agree on collective measures to deal with potential spying risks from equipment made by Huawei by the end of the year, the head of an EU advisory body has said. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - PRC Threat Obliges Political Defense (2019-07-10)
(Taipei Times, By Kerry Gershaneck) China’s political warfare poses an imminent existential threat to Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Taiwan must invest in counter-political warfare education now to safeguard its freedom and sovereignty, along with that of like-minded Southeast Asian nations. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - Making the Belt and Road Work for Southeast Asia (2019-07-13)
(East Asia Forum, By Phidel Vineles) But criticisms of the BRI highlight some of the risks of participation. Southeast Asian countries should address these risks by persuading China to adopt multilateral rules that broaden participation in the BRI, including by leveraging ASEAN’s potential role. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - Is the China Model a Threat? (2019-07-07)
(East Asia Forum, By William H Overholt) Western strategists have expressed widespread concern that Chinese leaders will promote the Chinese model of development as an alternative to Western democracy. In fact, the China model works only under severely constrained circumstances and so far, Chinese leaders seem to understand that. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - The Socrates Project: The Key to Countering China? (2019-07-16)
(The Diplomat, By Bonnie Girard) In light of China's continued rise, power and influence in the international arena, the United States could consider reviving the Socrates Project. The Socrates Project uses the power of technology planning tools instead of economic and financial planning models to sustain America's competitiveness. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - Which Countries are For or Against China's Xinjiang Policies? (2019-07-16)
(The Diplomat, By Catherine Putz) The 22 nations that signed a letter addressed to the president of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to express their concerns about China's detention program in Xinjiang are Western nations. Another letter which includes 37 countries defending China's Xinjiang policies consists of African and Middle Eastern nations. The question remains how each side gathered the signatures. <Accessed 2019-07-16> - Ich Bin Ein Hong Konger (2019-07-16)
(Foreign Policy, By Melinda Liu) The protest in Hong Kong which started due to the controversial extradition bill has widen its focus to target mainland Chinese "parallel traders". Presently, the protesters are demanding universal suffrage. Protest leaders hope that Hong Kong will be a beacon of hope for a China that is liberal, open and tolerant. <Accessed 2019-07-17> - China's South China Sea Anti-Ship Missile Tests Up the Stakes (2019-07-15)
(The Diplomat, By Ankit Panda) China's recent missile tests by the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force in a disputed part of the South China Sea demonstrate that a new strategic reality is underway in the South China Sea. China's latest missile tests demonstrate China's military capabilities and continued militarization agenda of the South China Sea. <Accessed 2019-07-15> - China Says Will Freeze Out U.S. Companies that Sell Arms to Taiwan (2019-07-15)
(Reuters, By Ben Blanchard) China's Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that the Chinese government and Chinese companies will sever business ties with American firms selling arms to Taiwan. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, the arms sales amounted to a violation of international law and threatened China's sovereignty and national security. <Accessed 2019-07-15> - Hong Kong Protesters, Police Clash as Demonstrations Target Chinese Traders (2019-07-14)
(Reuters, By Greg Torode and Vimvam Tong) Hong Kong protesters staged a demonstration in Sheung Shui, a town not far from the Chinese city of Shenzhen, against Chinese traders. Some protesters claimed that they did not carry weapons and were protesting peacefully but were hit with batons by the police. <Accessed 2019-07-14> - F-35 Sales are America's Belt and Road (2019-07-14)
(Foreign Policy, By Johnathan D. Caverley, Ethan B. Kapstein and Srdjan Vucetic) The United States' Joint Strike Fighter program has membership that includes 46 percent of the world economy. The F-35 program makes a state's security dependent on the United States. <Accessed 2019-07-14> - Chinese Cyber-Operatives Boosted Taiwan's Insurgent Candidate (2019-07-13)
(Foreign Policy, By Paul Huang) Han Kuo-yu, initially an unknown name in Taiwan's political scene, gained popularity and won the 2018 mayoral race in Kaohsiung. On the surface, it appears that Han's overwhelming success was attributable to his charisma and the power of social media. As it turned out, a Facebook group that was created in April of 2018 was not created by Han's fans but was created, managed and nurtured by a professional cybergroup from China. <Accessed 2019-07-13> - Pro-China Groups Step Up Offensive to Win Over Taiwan (2019-07-13)
(Reuters, By Yimou Lee and James Pomfret) China has established networks of supporters in Taiwan and increasing its efforts to attract Taiwanese businesspeople with lucrative business opportunities in exchange for supporting China's plan for reunification. Chinese state agencies have initiated its plan to garner support for unification through the Taiwan Affairs Office and the United Front Work Department. <Accessed 2019-07-13> - Taiwan's KMT Will Choose Its Candidate to Challenge a Resurgent President Tsai (2019-07-13)
(The Diplomat, By Nick Aspinwall) Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) party will decide on its presidential candidate on Monday, July 15 for Taiwan's 2020 election. The three KMT candidates are New Taipei Mayor Eric Chu, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu and Foxconn founder Terry Guo. <Accessed 2019-07-13> - Heads of US and Chinese Navies Talk Miscalculation Amid US Leadership Shuffle (2019-07-13)
(The Diplomat, By Steven Stashwick) According to the U.S. Navy, the video teleconference on July 9 between Admiral John Richardson of the U.S. Navy and Admiral Shen Jinlong of the PLA Navy focused on "reducing strategic, operational, and tactical risk between the two navies". The recent talk between the two leaders was part of a series of regular contacts between the two navies to maintain open communications and positive military-to-military relations. <Accessed 2019-07-13> - Could Hong Kong Become Another Estonia? (2019-07-13)
(The Diplomat, By Walter C. Clemens, Jr.) Many experts could be wrong in thinking that Hong Kong could not break from China and achieve prosperity like how Estonia and other Baltic states successfully broke from Kremlin domination in 1988-1991. Hong Kong is economically stronger compared to any of the Baltic states in the 1980s and has a larger population compared to Estonia. <Accessed 2019-07-13> - China's Overrated Technocrats (2019-07-13)
(Foreign Policy, By James Palmer) While Western leaders have legal or economic training, Chinese leaders are trained as engineers and scientists. However, for Chinese officials, their college degree hardly materialized into actual work experience. China's current leadership seeks to tighten control over the Chinese society. <Accessed 2019-07-13> - Understanding the US-China Trade Disconnect (2019-07-11)
(The Diplomat, By Liu Baocheng and Hilton Root) In light of the recent development on the U.S.-China trade dispute, where both nations have agreed to reopen trade talks, it is crucial that both nations gain an understanding of why the last round of trade talk failed. Both the U.S. and China will have to put their vague promises into verifiable agreements that could be enforced. <Accessed 2019-09-11> - Xi Jinping Continues His Quest for Absolute Party Control (2019-07-11)
(The Diplomat, By Shannon Tiezzi) Chinese President Xi Jinping aims to consolidate the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) control from over the state to entertainment and technology to religion and education. Xi is determined to expand the influence and leadership of the CCP, including focusing on the importance of Party building in CCP and state institutions. <Accessed 2019-07-11> - China Comes to Tonga (2019-07-11)
(The Diplomat, By Nick Perry) China's presence in Tonga has created concerns among the international community and some Tongans. Some view China's interest in Tonga as a stepping stone to the Western side. In China's defense, Chinese ambassador to Tonga, Wang Baodong, remarked that China was the only country willing to come to Tonga's aid when Tonga needed help. <Accessed 2019-07-11>
