Latest news with #LinChiaLung
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Palau president wants Taiwan to get a fair go at PIF
President Surangel Whipps Jr. at his first state visit to Taiwan in May 2025 after the inauguration of his second term. Photo: Supplied/ Office of the President Palau's president wants to see Taiwan given full access at this year's Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders' meeting. It was great to see 17 out of 18 leaders in Tonga for last year's meeting, Surangel Whipps Jr said - a sense of unity he wants to continue. "That's the record since we've gotten back together. Let's ensure that that continues, because that's what we need to see." He said he has heard that "there's been some difficulty in Taiwan gaining access". Whipps asked the PIF team to make sure they are doing all that it's responsible to do, to make sure the forum conference is a success, and everybody's there that's supposed to be able to participate. A Solomon Islands Government spokesperson said at this stage the government is not in a position to comment on participation or related arrangements for the PIF Leaders' Summit. They pointed out that the registration process for the summit has not yet opened and formal invitations will be issued in due course. "As host, Solomon Islands continues to work closely with the Forum Secretariat and Forum Member countries on all preparations." Whipps has just arrived back from a state visit to Taiwan, where its foreign minister Lin Chia-lung expressed his country's appreciation for Palau's consistent support on the international stage. Three Forum members - Tuvalu, Palau and Marshall Islands - have diplomatic ties with Taiwan and not China. Taiwan has been a development partner since 1992. China has been a dialogue partner of the PIF since 1990. Last year, RNZ Pacific captured China's representative to the meeting in Tonga asking Cook Islands prime minister Mark Brown to change the final communique which recognised Taiwan and China separately. Earlier this month, Solomon Islands' prime minister Jeremiah Manele warned government workers against engaging with "Taiwan". In a statement, Jeremiah Manele reaffirmed his government's commitment to the One-China Policy. The ABC reported a newly appointed government minister was pressured by China to quit an international group critical of its policies. Beijing's Embassy in Honiara said the allegations are baseless. It said China will never interfere in Solomon Islands internal affairs and also firmly oppose any other countries' interference in Solomon Islands' internal affairs. The president of Kiribati, Taneti Maamau, and top diplomats from Niue, Tonga, Nauru, Micronesia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa have been in China for a two-day meeting. In a joint statement, published to the website of China's foreign affairs ministry, the parties said: "All parties recognize that there is but one China in the world, that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. "China firmly opposes 'Taiwan independence' in all forms and commits to realizing national reunification, which has gained wide understanding and support at the meeting. "China firmly supports Pacific Island countries in upholding their sovereignty and independence." Meanwhile, a regional architecture review (RRA) has entered its final stage. It's the Pacific Islands Forum leaders' response to the increasing interest from a growing number of Forum dialogue partners wanting a seat - and a say - at the regional decision-making table. Palau's president has made it clear to the RRA committee that, "it is important that all our partners are able to be present at PIF".
RNZ News
4 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Palau president wants to Taiwan to get a fair go at PIF
President Surangel Whipps Jr. at his first state visit to Taiwan in May 2025 after the inauguration of his second term. Photo: Supplied/ Office of the President Palau's president wants to see Taiwan given full access at this year's Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders' meeting. It was great to see 17 out of 18 leaders in Tonga for last year's meeting, Surangel Whipps Jr said - a sense of unity he wants to continue. "That's the record since we've gotten back together. Let's ensure that that continues, because that's what we need to see." He said he has heard that "there's been some difficulty in Taiwan gaining access". Whipps asked the PIF team to make sure they are doing all that it's responsible to do, to make sure the forum conference is a success, and everybody's there that's supposed to be able to participate. A Solomon Islands Government spokesperson said at this stage the government is not in a position to comment on participation or related arrangements for the PIF Leaders' Summit. They pointed out that the registration process for the summit has not yet opened and formal invitations will be issued in due course. "As host, Solomon Islands continues to work closely with the Forum Secretariat and Forum Member countries on all preparations." Whipps has just arrived back from a state visit to Taiwan, where its foreign minister Lin Chia-lung expressed his country's appreciation for Palau's consistent support on the international stage. Three Forum members - Tuvalu, Palau and Marshall Islands - have diplomatic ties with Taiwan and not China. Taiwan has been a development partner since 1992. China has been a dialogue partner of the PIF since 1990. Last year, RNZ Pacific captured China's representative to the meeting in Tonga asking Cook Islands prime minister Mark Brown to change the final communique which recognised Taiwan and China separately. Earlier this month, Solomon Islands' prime minister Jeremiah Manele warned government workers against engaging with "Taiwan". In a statement, Jeremiah Manele reaffirmed his government's commitment to the One-China Policy. The ABC reported a newly appointed government minister was pressured by China to quit an international group critical of its policies. Beijing's Embassy in Honiara said the allegations are baseless. It said China will never interfere in Solomon Islands internal affairs and also firmly oppose any other countries' interference in Solomon Islands' internal affairs. The president of Kiribati, Taneti Maamau, and top diplomats from Niue, Tonga, Nauru, Micronesia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa have been in China for a two-day meeting. In a joint statement, published to the website of China's foreign affairs ministry, the parties said: "All parties recognize that there is but one China in the world, that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. "China firmly opposes 'Taiwan independence' in all forms and commits to realizing national reunification, which has gained wide understanding and support at the meeting. "China firmly supports Pacific Island countries in upholding their sovereignty and independence." Meanwhile, a regional architecture review (RRA) has entered its final stage. It's the Pacific Islands Forum leaders' response to the increasing interest from a growing number of Forum dialogue partners wanting a seat - and a say - at the regional decision-making table. Palau's president has made it clear to the RRA committee that, "it is important that all our partners are able to be present at PIF".
South China Morning Post
24-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
South Africa downgrades Taiwan's representative office as it deepens ties with Beijing
Advertisement The office, maintained since Nelson Mandela 's administration cut formal ties with Taipei in 1998, has also been relocated from the country's administrative capital of Pretoria to the commercial hub of Johannesburg, according to the website of South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation. However, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said in a briefing last week that the office remained in Pretoria. Meanwhile, Somalia has banned the entry, exit or transit of Taiwanese passport holders, an action seen as retaliation for Taiwan's growing ties with Somaliland, Somalia's breakaway region. Taiwan's only official diplomatic ally in Africa is eSwatini, and only a limited number of countries host commercial or trade offices for the island. Experts said Taiwan's diminishing presence on the continent underscored a deepening alignment between African nations and Beijing, driven by their robust economic ties. 01:33 William Lai vows to protect Taiwan security and industry in speech marking year as leader William Lai vows to protect Taiwan security and industry in speech marking year as leader Emmanuel Matambo, research director at the University of Johannesburg's Centre for Africa-China Studies, noted that Beijing was once very forthright and forceful about prying African recognition from Taiwan, and the deepening relationship had prompted African states to be reluctant to offend Beijing by giving Taiwan any prominence.
Free Malaysia Today
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
‘Ignorant' to call Taiwan a country, Beijing says to Taipei's foreign minister
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te told military officers that 'precious' freedom and democracy must be guarded by strength and constant vigilance. (AP pic) BEIJING : It is 'arrogant and ignorant' to call Taiwan a country and its future can only be decided by China's 1.4 billion people, the Chinese foreign ministry said today in a rebuff to the democratically-governed island's foreign minister. China views Taiwan as its own territory and says the island is one of its provinces with no right to be called a state. It has stepped up military and political pressure to assert those claims, including increasing the intensity of war games. Taiwan's foreign minister Lin Chia-lung said on Wednesday that China had no authority to decide whether Taiwan was a country because the island chooses its own government. He added that he would be happy to shake the hand of his Chinese opposite number, Wang Yi, in friendship. Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning said Taiwan had never been a country. 'The relevant remarks only reveal that certain somebody's arrogance and ignorance, and they are naked provocations for Taiwan independence,' she said. 'The future of Taiwan can only be decided by the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people, including our Taiwan compatriots, and China will and must be reunified eventually, which is a historical trend that no force can stop.' Taiwan's formal name is the Republic of China, the name of the government which in 1949 fled to the island after losing a bloody civil war with Mao Zedong's communists, who established the People's Republic of China. Taipei says Beijing has no right to speak for the island nor claim it as its own. In a video released today by his office, Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te told military officers that 'precious' freedom and democracy must be guarded by strength and constant vigilance. 'Freedom and democracy are not gifts that fall from the sky; they are the fruits of the perseverance and sacrifice of generations of courageous people,' he said, in footage filmed on Friday when Lai was visiting the armed forces in southern Taiwan. Lai, who China describes as a 'separatist', this week marked one year since he took office. China has rebuffed repeated offers from him for talks.
CNA
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CNA
'Ignorant' to call Taiwan a country, China says responding to Taipei's foreign minister
BEIJING: It is "arrogant and ignorant" to call Taiwan a country and its future can only be decided by China's 1.4 billion people, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday (May 22) in a rebuff to the democratically-governed island's foreign minister. China views Taiwan as its own territory and says the island is one of its provinces with no right to be called a state. It has stepped up military and political pressure to assert those claims, including increasing the intensity of war games. Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said on Wednesday that China had no authority to decide whether Taiwan was a country because the island chooses its own government. He added that he would be happy to shake the hand of his Chinese opposite number, Wang Yi, in friendship. Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Taiwan had never been a country. "The relevant remarks only reveal that certain somebody's arrogance and ignorance, and they are naked provocations for Taiwan independence," she said. "The future of Taiwan can only be decided by the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people, including our Taiwan compatriots, and China will and must be reunified eventually, which is a historical trend that no force can stop." Taiwan's formal name is the Republic of China, the name of the government which in 1949 fled to the island after losing a bloody civil war with Mao Zedong's communists, who established the People's Republic of China. Taipei says Beijing has no right to speak for the island nor claim it as its own. In a video released on Thursday by his office, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te told military officers that "precious" freedom and democracy must be guarded by strength and constant vigilance. "Freedom and democracy are not gifts that fall from the sky; they are the fruits of the perseverance and sacrifice of generations of courageous people," he said, in footage filmed on Friday when Lai was visiting the armed forces in southern Taiwan.
