Senior South Korean diplomats held talks with Chinese counterparts on Thursday after a diplomatic spat with Taiwan over Seoul’s cancellation of an invitation to a senior Taipei official to take part in a business forum last week. Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-Kun and aides conducted an online meeting on Thursday …
Read More »China Says It Does Not Fear Confrontation With the United States
China will not shy away from confrontation with the United States and would “fight to the end,” the country’s senior diplomat said in a keynote speech on Monday. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing would welcome cooperation with Washington, as long as it’s mutually beneficial, according to a transcript …
Read More »Lithuanian diplomats leave China as relations sour over Taiwan
Lithuania’s diplomatic delegation to China left the country on Wednesday in a hastily arranged exit, diplomatic sources said, as relations soured further over Taiwan, which opened a de facto embassy in Vilnius last month. Beijing, which has stepped up pressure on countries to sever relations with the island, downgraded diplomatic …
Read More »US should not have any illusions about Taiwan, says China
There is no room for compromise over Taiwan and the United States should not have any illusions about this, China’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday, adding that Washington had of late made a series of “provocations” on several issues. China says the issue of Taiwan, which it claims as Chinese …
Read More »China downgrades diplomatic ties with Lithuania over Taiwan
China downgraded its diplomatic ties with Lithuania on Sunday, expressing strong dissatisfaction with the Baltic State after Taiwan opened a de facto embassy there, escalating a row that has sucked in Washington. China views self-ruled and democratically governed Taiwan as its territory with no right to the trappings of a …
Read More »Biden, Xi stick to their positions but turn down the heat in three-hour talk
U.S. President Joe Biden pressed his Chinese counterpart on human rights in a video call lasting more than three hours, while Xi Jinping warned that China would respond to provocations on Taiwan, according to official accounts of the exchange. The closely scrutinized conversation between the leaders of the world’s biggest …
Read More »China says conducted readiness patrol as US lawmakers visit Taiwan
China’s military said on Tuesday it conducted a combat readiness patrol in the direction of the Taiwan Strait after its defense ministry condemned a visit to Taiwan by a US Congressional delegation it said had arrived on a military aircraft. The patrol was aimed at the “seriously wrong” words and …
Read More »Taiwan leader says she has ‘faith’ US will defend island against China
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said she has “faith” that the US will defend the island in the event China launches a military strike, in an interview with CNN broadcast Wednesday. “I do have faith” that US forces would help defend Taiwan, Tsai told the news network, adding that Washington’s commitment …
Read More »China warns US that support for Taiwan poses ‘huge risks’
China condemned the US’s latest overture toward Taiwan, warning that ties between the two countries faced “huge risks” just weeks after Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping agreed to hold a video summit. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call for greater participation by Taiwan in UN organizations violated the …
Read More »Biden says United States would come to Taiwan’s defense
The United States would come to Taiwan’s defense and has a commitment to defend the island China claims as its own, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday, though the White House said later there was no change in policy towards the island. “Yes, we have a commitment to do …
Read More »US, Canadian warships sail through Taiwan Strait ‘to provoke’ China
The US military has announced that two American and Canadian warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait last week in what China called an attempt “to provoke and stir up trouble” in the strait. The US military dispatched Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey through the waterway that separates China from …
Read More »Chinese military condemns joint US-Canada warship transit through Taiwan Strait
China’s military on Sunday condemned the United States and Canada for sending warships through the Taiwan Strait last week, saying their actions seriously jeopardized peace and stability. Chinese forces monitored the ships and “stood guard” throughout their sailing, the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said in a statement. The …
Read More »Fire kills 46, injures dozens in southern Chinese Taipei building
At least 46 people have lost their lives and dozens more have been injured in a fire that broke out in a residential building in southern Chinese Taipei, officials say. The fire occurred in the 4-decade-old Cheng Chung Cheng building in the Yancheng district of the southern city of Kaohsiung …
Read More »Fire in southern Taiwan kills 46
A fire in a residential building in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung has killed 46 people and injured another 41, the government said on Thursday. The fire broke out in the 40-year-old building in Kaohsiung’s Yancheng district in the early hours of the morning and was extinguished around dawn. …
Read More »China defends recent drills near Taipei
China says recent military drills near Chinese Taipei were a “just” move aimed at protecting the country’s sovereignty and integrity against Taipei’s “collusion” with foreign forces. China carried out beach landing and assault drills in the province directly across the sea from Chinese Taipei on Monday, one week after former …
Read More »Taiwan’s Tsai to pledge defense of sovereignty, democracy as tensions with China rise
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will pledge to defend the island’s sovereignty and democracy in a major speech on Sunday, saying it faces challenges more complex and severe than ever, at a time when tensions with China have risen. Democratic Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, has come under …
Read More »US troops secretly training Taiwanese since last year: report
On Thursday, the CIA announced the creation of a new center focused specifically on China. US Marines and special-operations forces have been training Taiwan’s military for at least one year, according to a report published Thursday. Citing US officials, the Wall Street Journal said that there were around 24 US …
Read More »French senator calls Taiwan a ‘country’ in visit amid China protests
The head of a French delegation of senators on Thursday called Taiwan a “country” during a visit to Taipei, risking fury from China which has strongly protested against the trip. Alain Richard, a former defense minister, arrived on Wednesday for a five-day visit despite repeated warnings from the Chinese embassy …
Read More »Taiwan says needs to be on alert to ‘over the top’ China
Taiwan needs to be on alert for China’s “over the top” military activities which are violating regional peace, Premier Su Tseng-chang said on Tuesday, after 56 Chinese aircraft flew into Taiwan’s air defense zone on Monday, the highest ever. Taiwan has reported 148 Chinese air force planes in the southern …
Read More »US raises concern as China flies warplanes south of Taiwan
The Chinese military flew 16 warplanes over waters south of Taiwan on Sunday as the US expressed concern about what it called China’s “provocative military action” near the self-governing island that China claims. China sent 38 warplanes into the area on Friday and 39 aircraft on Saturday, the most in …
Read More »