The Dominican Republic announced on Monday that it will break diplomatic ties with Taiwan, establish diplomatic relations with mainland China, and recognize Taiwan as an “inalienable part of Chinese territory.” The move came after China offered the Dominican Republic a $3 billion investment and loan package, and fits neatly into China’s strategy of isolating Taiwan.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen was on hand for a military drill on Friday, a day after China held the largest naval drill in its history in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. China also indicated this week that it will hold live-fire drills in the Straits of Taiwan.
China’s only operational aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday following a heated nationalist speech from President Xi Jinping in which he warned force will be used to thwart Taiwanese independence if necessary.
President Donald Trump signed the Taiwan Travel Act on Saturday, bringing a round of applause from Taiwanese officials and citizens plus the expected statement of disapproval from China.
China reacted with fury after the U.S. Senate passed the Taiwan Travel Act on Wednesday, condemning it as a serious violation of the “One China” principle and stepping up its efforts to isolate Taipei. In fact, the Taiwanese interpret some of China’s warnings as threats of military action.
China lodged strong objections to the Taiwan Travel Act this week as it emerged from the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week and headed for a vote. China warns that the bill, which would enable American officials to travel to Taiwan for meetings with their counterparts and vice versa, would damage relations between America and China and threaten regional stability.
The Heritage Foundation held an event to discuss Taiwan’s role in international organizations on Thursday, with an emphasis on the way China is using its growing economic and diplomatic clout to block Taiwanese membership in vital organizations related to health, safety, and security.
Chinese embassy minister Li Kexin warned Taiwanese officials on Friday that Beijing would use “military force” if the island nation welcomed U.S. Navy ships to its ports, claiming any U.S. presence in Taiwan would violate China’s Anti-Secession Law.
Despite China’s demands to deny her entry, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen made a scheduled stopover in Hawaii on Saturday, en route to the Pacific Islands. During her visit, she promised to boost Taiwan’s defense spending, prompting the outraged Chinese Communist Party organ Global Times to condemn her transit of U.S. territory as “deplorable.”
China wants the U.S. government to block Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen from traveling through American territory, specifically Hawaii and Guam, during her upcoming trip to visit allies in the Pacific.
The government of Taiwan declared on Wednesday that the people of the island will “absolutely” reserve the right to determine their own future, in the wake of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s call for the island to be returned to Beijing’s control, in a manner that implied military force was not out of the question for accomplishing that objective.
Contents: Steve Bannon and Henry Kissinger form project to sound alarm on China; Taiwan’s prime minister says that Taiwan is an ‘independent sovereign state’
Contents: Paranoid China races to censor news of death of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo; China responds with outrage at countries praising Liu Xiaobo
Contents: In a major victory for China, Panama switches allegiance from Taiwan to China; Taiwan’s harsh response signals increasing tension with China; China expected to continue increasing diplomatic pressure on Taiwan
China has evidently exceeded its tolerance for democracy along its fringes. There are reports this week that a Taiwanese pro-democracy activist mysteriously vanished during a visit to Macau, while the leaders of 2014’s democracy protests in Hong Kong have been politely arrested.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen announced Tuesday that she was approving a new plan for the island nation to build an indigenous submarine, following years of failing to get foreign nations to agree to sell submarines to the Taiwanese military for fear of upsetting the Chinese Communist Party.
The government of Taiwan is planning to request the purchase of new fighter aircraft from the United States, The Guardian reported, just as it completes the transfer of two decommissioned U.S. Navy frigates.
Contents: Taiwan says it must defend against increasingly threatening China; China responds harshly to Taiwan’s defense report; Taiwan’s government responds to China’s threats; China begins construction on Philippines’ Scarborough Shoal
U.S. President Donald Trump affirmed to Xi Jinping, his counterpart in Beijing, his support for the “One China” policy when they spoke on the phone Thursday, a conversation the White House described as “lengthy” and “extremely cordial.” The One China policy denies the sovereignty of Taiwan.
Contents: China sails warships near Japan’s Senkaku Islands; Tensions rise between China and Trump administration
Stanley Kao, the Taiwanese envoy to the United States, told a crowd at a parade in Washington D.C. this weekend that Taipei sees America as a “natural partner and ally” and said his government hoped to expand ties with the White House.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has demanded that President-elect Donald Trump ban a delegation representing Taiwan from his inauguration ceremony, accusing the delegation of attempting to “undermine Sino-U.S. relations.”
On Friday, The Wall Street Journal published an interview with President-elect Donald Trump in which he once again challenged the “One China” policy that regards Taiwan as a temporarily estranged province of China.
The Chinese military engaged in multiple exercises near Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan this week, forcing all three nations to scramble jets while Beijing officials insisted the display of force was a “normal” event.
Contents: Taiwan president Tsai Ing-Wen meets with Senator Cruz in Texas; China threatens Trump with ‘revenge’ over one-China policy
Contents: In New Year’s address, Taiwan’s president responds to military threats from China; Did Taiwan’s president say that Taiwan is ‘an independent, sovereign country’?; Taiwan president’s planned US visit angers China even more
Contents: Bank run worsens Italy’s banking crisis; Following the money, Sao Tome and Principe switches allegiance from Taiwan to China
The Chinese Foreign Ministry and the nation’s state-run media have condemned Congress’s approval of new high-level military talks between the United States and Taiwan. The rebuke follows a month of vocal dismay in Beijing over President-elect Donald Trump’s questioning of the “One China” policy, which denies Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Taiwan is organizing a Western Hemisphere visit for President Tsai Ing-wen and hinting at a quick stop in the United States, appearing to alarm Chinese officials already concerned that Tsai has inspired too much of a positive response from the incoming Trump administration.
“It is lawful, reasonable and fair, and happened as in the past according to plan,” the Chinese air force said in a statement late last week regarding military exercises over waters near Taiwan, alarming the Taiwanese government following heavy criticism from Beijing of Taipei’s embrace of American President-elect Donald Trump.
Contents: China says it will back down over US military drone seizure in South China Sea; Chinese bombers circling Taiwan raise talk of war during Trump’s first term
Reuters reports some pushback against President-elect Donald Trump from both the Obama White House and senior Republican senator John McCain over Trump’s comments on China and Taiwan.
In a television interview over the weekend, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said there was “serious concern” in Beijing about President-elect Donald Trump’s policy toward Taiwan.
The Chinese state propaganda outlet Global Times is urging China’s military to amass more nuclear weapons in response to Donald Trump’s election to the American presidency, after a week of sharply worded editorials predicting a war if Trump confronts the nation’s communist government.
The Wall Street Journal revealed on Monday that a key player in arranging the controversial phone call between President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen was none other than former Senator and 1996 presidential candidate Bob Dole.
President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter to denounce communist China’s economic and military policies following his direct call with Taiwan’s democratically elected president. Critics have protested that the call bypassed a longstanding diplomatic protocol known as the “One China” policy.
President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to take a courtesy call from Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen last week has alarmed many in American mainstream media, who argue that acknowledging Tsai as a fellow head of state unnecessarily strains relations with communist China.
Contents: No war erupted from Trump’s ten minute phone call with Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen; From the Truman Doctrine to renewed nationalism
Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” while commenting on the controversy over the phone call between President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, MSNBC anchor and commentator Andrea Mitchell said China was now concerned about its future diplomatic relationship
Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” RNC chairman and incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said President Donald Trump, “knew exactly what was happening” during his telephone conversation with Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen. Partial transcript as follows; DICKERSON:
