Tag Archives: Taiwan

New Taiwan president urges China to drop historical baggage

aiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen addresses during an inauguration ceremony in Taipei

By J.R. Wu and Faith Hung

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s new president urged China on Friday to “drop the baggage of history” in an otherwise conciliatory inauguration speech that Beijing’s Communist Party rulers had been watching for any move towards independence.

President Tsai Ing-wen was sworn in with Taiwan’s export-driven economy on the ropes and China, which views the self-ruled island as its own, looking across the Taiwan Strait for anti-Beijing sentiment that could further sour economic ties.

Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has traditionally favored independence, won parliamentary and presidential elections by a landslide in January on a voter backlash against creeping dependence on China. It takes over after eight years under China-friendly Nationalist Ma Ying-jeou.

Tsai, Taiwan’s first woman president, said Taiwan would play a responsible role and be a “staunch guardian of peace” with China.

“Cross-Strait relations have become an integral part of building regional peace and collective security,” she told thousands outside the presidential office.

“The two governing parties across the Strait must set aside the baggage of history and engage in positive dialogue for the benefit of the people on both sides.”

China, which has never renounced force to take control of what it considers a renegade province, said this month the new Taiwan government would be to blame for any crisis that might erupt.

Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists fled to Taiwan after losing the civil war to the Communists in China in 1949. China has pressured the new government to stick to the “one China” principle agreed with the Nationalists. That allows each side to interpret what “one China” means.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Tsai’s remarks were an “incomplete answer”, warning that China saw any push for Taiwan independence as “the biggest menace to peace across the Taiwan Strait”, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, asked about the inauguration, merely praised the record of the “one China” policy.

“Regardless of what internal changes take place within Taiwan, China will uphold the one China principle and oppose Taiwanese independence,” she told a briefing.

“LET’S SET ASIDE DISPUTES”

In a sign of a deteriorating economy, Taiwan’s export orders fell more than expected in April, their 13th straight month of decline, according to data released on Friday, as demand in China and other global markets remained weak.

Taiwan markets reacted calmly to Tsai’s speech. The main stock index reached an intraday high as she spoke, before closing 0.4 percent higher.

Tsai pledged to abide by the constitution of the Republic of China, Taiwan’s formal name, and promised to safeguard the island’s sovereignty and territory.

She also mentioned the East China and South China Seas, where an increasingly muscular China has been at odds over territorial claims with its neighbors.

“Regarding problems arising in the East China Sea and South China Sea, we propose setting aside disputes so as to enable joint development,” she said.

The American Institute in Taiwan, which represents U.S. interests in the island in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, said it looked forward to working with the new government.

The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979 but is also Taiwan’s biggest ally and arms supplier.

China is deeply distrustful of Tsai’s DPP, whose charter includes a clause promoting “a sovereign and independent Republic of Taiwan”.

Voted in by a Taiwanese public equally distrustful of growing economic dependence on China, the DPP also champions Taiwan’s own history. There were massive protests in 2014 that stalled a trade pact with China and were a key element of the DPP’s rise.

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON and Megha Rajagopalan in BEIJING; Editing by Paul Tait and Nick Macfie)

U.S. Navy Officer faces espionage charges

HONOLULU (Dec. 3, 2008) Lt. Edward Lin, native to Taiwan, shares his personal stories about his journey to American citizenship to a group of 80 newly nationalized citizens

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. Navy officer with access to sensitive U.S. intelligence faces espionage charges over accusations he passed state secrets, possibly to China and Taiwan, a U.S. official told Reuters on Sunday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the suspect as Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin, who was born in Taiwan and later became a naturalized U.S. citizen, according a Navy profile article written about him in 2008.

A redacted Navy charge sheet said the suspect was assigned to the headquarters for the Navy’s Patrol and Reconnaissance Group, which oversees intelligence collection activities.

The charge sheet redacted out the name of the suspect and the Navy declined to provide details on his identity.

It accused him twice of communicating secret information and three times of attempting to do so to a representative of a foreign government “with intent or reason to believe it would be used to the advantage of a foreign nation.”

The document did not identify what foreign country or countries were involved.

The U.S. official said both China and Taiwan were possible but stressed the investigation was still going on.

The suspect was also accused of engaging in prostitution and adultery. He has been held in pre-trial confinement for the past eight months or so, the official added.

USNI News, which first reported Lin’s identity, said he spoke fluent Mandarin and managed the collection of electronic signals from the EP3-E Aries II signals intelligence aircraft.

The U.S. Navy profiled Lin in a 2008 article that focused on his naturalization to the United States, saying his family left Taiwan when he was 14 and stayed in different countries before coming to America.

“I always dreamt about coming to America, the ‘promised land’,” he said. “I grew up believing that all the roads in America lead to Disneyland.”

The Navy’s article can be seen here: http://1.usa.gov/1SIEJDe

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he was not aware of the details of the case. He did not elaborate. China’s Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it had no information on the case. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart, additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing and J.R. Wu in Taipei; Editing by Michael Perry)

5.5 Earthquake off Northeast Taiwan

AIPEI (Reuters) – An earthquake measuring 5.5 magnitude struck off the northeast coast of Taiwan on Monday, the island’s Central Weather Bureau said, shaking buildings in the capital Taipei, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Earthquakes are common in Taiwan. In February, a 6.4 magnitude quake toppled a large apartment complex in southern Taiwan killing over 100 people.

(Reporting by J.R. Wu; Editing by Michael Perry)

U.S. sees new Chinese activity around South China Sea shoal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has seen Chinese activity around a reef China seized from the Philippines nearly four years ago that could be a precursor to more land reclamation in the disputed South China Sea, the U.S. Navy chief said on Thursday.

The head of U.S. naval operations, Admiral John Richardson, expressed concern that an international court ruling expected in coming weeks on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims could be a trigger for Beijing to declare an exclusion zone in the busy trade route.

Richardson told Reuters the United States was weighing responses to such a move.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.

Richardson said the U.S. military had seen Chinese activity around Scarborough Shoal in the northern part of the Spratly archipelago, about 125 miles west of the Philippine base of Subic Bay.

“I think we see some surface ship activity and those sorts of things, survey type of activity, going on. That’s an area of concern … a next possible area of reclamation,” he said.

Richardson said it was unclear if the activity near the reef, which China seized in 2012, was related to the pending arbitration decision.

Asked about Richardson’s statement, Lu Kang, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said it was hypocritical for the United States to criticize China for militarizing the region when it carries out its own naval patrols there.

“This is really laughable and preposterous,” he said.

The Philippine foreign ministry said it had yet to receive a report about Chinese activity in Scarborough Shoal.

A Philippine military official who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media said he was unaware of a Chinese survey ship in the area.

“China already has de facto control over the shoal since 2012 and they always have two to three coastguard ships there. We are also monitoring their activities and movements,” the official told reporters.

Richardson said China’s pursuit of South China Sea territory, which has included massive land reclamation to create artificial islands elsewhere in the Spratlys, threatened to reverse decades of open access and introduce new “rules” that required countries to obtain permission before transiting those waters.

He said that was a worry given that 30 percent of the world’s trade passes through the region.

Asked whether China could respond to the ruling by the court of arbitration in The Hague by declaring an air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, as it did to the north, in the East China Sea, in 2013, Richardson said: “It’s definitely a concern.

“We will just have to see what happens,” he said. “We think about contingencies and … responses.”

Richardson said the United States planned to continue carrying out freedom-of-navigation exercises within 12 nautical miles of disputed South China Sea geographical features to underscore its concerns about keeping sea lanes open.

JOINT PATROLS?

The United States responded to the East China Sea ADIZ by flying B-52 bombers through the zone in a show of force in November 2013.

Richardson said he was struck by how China’s increasing militarization of the South China Sea had increased the willingness of other countries in the region to work together.

India and Japan have joined the U.S. Navy in the Malabar naval exercise since 2014, and were due to take part again this year in an even more complex exercise that will take place in an area close to the East and South China Seas.

South Korea, Japan and the United States were also working together more closely than ever before, he said.

Richardson said the United States would welcome the participation of other countries in joint patrols in the South China Sea, but those decisions needed to be made by the countries in question.

He said the U.S. military saw good opportunities to build and rebuild relationships with countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines and India, which have all realized the importance of safeguarding the freedom of the seas.

He cited India’s recent hosting of an international fleet review that included 75 ships from 50 navies, and said the United States was exploring opportunities to increase its use of ports in the Philippines and Vietnam, among others – including the former U.S. naval base at Vietnam’s Cam Ranh Bay.

But he said Washington needed to proceed judiciously rather than charging in “very fast and very heavy,” given the enormous influence and importance of the Chinese economy in the region.

“We have to be sophisticated in how we approach this so that we don’t force any of our partners into an uncomfortable position where they have to make tradeoffs that are not in their best interest,” he said.

“We would hope to have an approach that would … include us a primary partner but not necessarily to the exclusion of other partners in the region.”

(Additional reporting by Neil Jerome Morales in Manila and Megha Rajagopalan in Beijing; Editing by Peter Cooney and Nick Macfie)

U.S. expects ‘very serious’ talks with China after missile reports

WASHINGTON/TAIPEI (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday the United States expects to have “very serious” talks with China about militarization of the South China Sea after reports that Beijing deployed advanced surface-to-air missiles to a disputed island.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the missile batteries had been set up on Woody Island in the Paracels chain, which has been under Chinese control for decades but also is claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.

A U.S. defense official also confirmed the “apparent deployment” of the missiles, first reported by Fox News.

“There is every evidence, every day that there has been an increase of militarization of one kind or another,” Kerry told reporters when asked about the reported deployment. “It’s of serious concern.

“We have had these conversations with the Chinese and I am confident that over the next days we will have further very serious conversation on this.”

The United States claims no territory in the South China Sea but has expressed serious concerns about how China’s increasingly assertive pursuit of territorial claims there could affect the vital global trade routes that pass though it.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters the “limited and necessary self-defense facilities” China had on islands and reefs where it has personnel stationed was “consistent with the right to self-protection that China is entitled to under international law.”

The Chinese Defense Ministry told Reuters the latest reports about missile deployment were nothing but “hype.”

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.

TOPIC AT ASEAN MEETING

News of the missile deployment came as U.S. President Barack Obama and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations concluded a summit in California, where they discussed the need to ease tensions in the South China Sea.

It also followed a patrol by a U.S. Navy destroyer within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island in the Paracels last month, a move China condemned as provocative.

The United States also has conducted sea and air patrols near artificial islands that China has built in the Spratly islands chain farther south in the South China Sea, including by two B-52 strategic bombers in November.

Obama said the United States planned to continue such patrols in the name of freedom of navigation.

Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, said at a news briefing in Tokyo that deployment of missiles to the Paracels would not be a surprise but would be a concern and contrary to China’s pledge not to militarize the region.

Some analysts believe China’s increasing military presence in the South China Sea could lead to a Beijing-controlled air defense zone there.

“(The missile deployment) reinforces the view that China intends to exert growing control in these international waters, including potentially by declaring an Air Defense Identification Zone,” said Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University.

Mira Rapp-Hooper, a South China Sea expert from the Center for a New American Security, said it was not the first time China had sent air-defense missiles to the Paracels, but the latest move appeared to be a response to U.S. patrols.

She noted that while China had said it did not seek to militarize islands and reefs in the Spratly Islands, it had made no such commitment for the Paracels, where it has stationed military assets for years.

Ni Lexiong, a naval expert at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said Woody Island belonged to China.

“Deploying surface-to-air missiles on our territory is completely within the scope of our sovereign rights,” he said. “We have sovereignty there, so we can choose whether to militarize it.”

Fox News said images from civilian satellite firm ImageSat International show two batteries of eight surface-to-air missile launchers on Woody Island, as well as a radar system.

The missiles arrived in the past week and, according to a U.S. official, appeared to show the HQ-9 air defense system, which has a range of 125 miles and would pose a threat to any airplanes flying close by, the report said.

(Additional reporting by Faith Hung in Taipei, David Brunnstrom and Arshad Mohammed in Washington, Jeff Mason and Bruce Wallace in Rancho Mirage, Megha Rajagopalan and Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Tim Kelly in Tokyo, Martin Petty in Hanoi, Matt Siegel in Sydney; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Bill Trott)

Taiwan earthquake death toll rises, building developer in custody

TAINAN, Taiwan (Reuters) – A local court in the southern Taiwan city of Tainan ruled on Tuesday to take into custody the developer of a building which collapsed during an earthquake at the weekend that killed at least 39 people.

Lin Ming-hui, the Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building’s developer, and two other men from his management team are being held without bail on suspicion of negligent homicide while the authorities finish their investigation, the Tainan District Court said in a statement.

The investigation is being led by the Tainan District Prosecutors Office.

The quake struck at about 4 a.m. on Saturday at the beginning of the Lunar New Year holiday, with almost all of the dead found in Tainan’s toppled Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building. Two people died elsewhere in the city.

Rescue work has focused on the wreckage of the 17-story building, where more than 100 people are listed as missing and are suspected to be buried deep under the rubble.

No survivors have been brought out since Monday evening.

Questions have been raised about the building’s construction quality, especially materials used to build it.

Lawyers for the three detained men were not immediately available to comment.

Hsiao Po-jen, director of the legal affairs department of the Tainan city government, told Reuters that Lin had been arrested on Monday evening.

Reuters witnesses at the scene of the collapse have seen large rectangular, commercial cans of cooking-oil packed inside wall cavities exposed by the damage, apparently having been used as building material.

Taiwan media has also reported the presence of polystyrene in supporting beams, mixed in with concrete.

The Wei-guan, completed in 1994, was the only major high-rise building in the city of two million people to have completely collapsed.

Its lower stories, filled with arcades of shops, pancaked on top of each other before the entire U-shaped complex toppled in on itself.

Deputy Tainan Mayor Tseng Shu-cheng told family members that 103 people were still missing in the rubble.

(Reporting by J.R. Wu, and Faith Hung in TAIPEI; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Nick Macfie and Mike Collett-White)

More rescued two days after Taiwan quake, death toll could exceed 100

TAINAN, Taiwan (Reuters) – Rescuers pulled out alive an eight-year-old girl and her aunt from the rubble of a Taiwan apartment block on Monday, more than 60 hours after it was toppled by a quake, as the mayor of the southern city of Tainan warned the death toll could exceed 100.

The official death toll from the quake rose to 38, with more than 100 people missing.

The girl, named as Lin Su-Chin, was conscious and had been taken to hospital, Taiwan television stations said. Her aunt, Chen Mei-jih, was rescued shortly after.

The quake struck at about 4 a.m. on Saturday at the beginning of the Lunar New Year holiday, with almost all the dead found in Tainan’s toppled Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building.

Rescue efforts are focused on the wreckage of the 17-story building, where more than 100 people are listed as missing and are suspected to be buried deep under the rubble.

Earlier, Wang Ting-yu, a legislator who represents the area, told reporters that a woman, identified as Tsao Wei-ling, was found alive, lying under her dead husband. Their two-year-old son, who was also killed, was found nearby.

Another survivor, a man named Li Tsung-tian, was pulled out later, with Taiwan television stations showing live images of the rescues. Several hours later, Li’s girlfriend was found dead in the rubble.

Tsao and Li were both being treated in hospital.

Tainan Mayor William Lai said during a visit to a funeral home that rescue efforts had entered what he called the “third stage”.

“There are more fatalities than those pulled out (alive), and the number of fatalities will probably exceed 100,” Lai told reporters.

Rescuers continued to scramble over the twisted wreckage of the building as numbed family members stood around, waiting for news of missing relatives.

Taiwan’s government said in a statement 36 of the 38 dead were from the Wei-guan building, which was built in 1994.

President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, who won election last month, said there needed to be a “general sorting out” of old buildings to make sure they were able to cope with disasters like earthquakes.

“There needs to be a continued strengthening of their ability to deal with disasters,” she said.

Outgoing President Ma Ying-jeou, speaking to reporters at a Tainan hospital, said the government needed to be a better job in ensuring building quality.

“In the near future, regarding building management, we will have some further improvements. We will definitely do this work well,” Ma said.

Reuters witnesses at the scene of the collapse saw large rectangular, commercial cans of cooking-oil packed inside wall cavities exposed by the damage, apparently having been used as building material.

Chinese President Xi Jinping also conveyed condolences to the victims, state news agency Xinhua reported late on Sunday, and repeated Beijing’s offer to provide help.

China views self-ruled Taiwan as a wayward province, to be bought under its control by force if necessary.

(Additional reporting by Faith Hung in Taipei and Megha Rajagopalan in Beijing; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait and Nick Macfie)

Powerful earthquake causes damage in southern Taiwan

TAIPEI (Reuters) – A powerful earthquake struck southern Taiwan on Saturday near the city of Tainan, toppling at least one apartment building and collapsing other structures although there were no immediate reports of deaths or serious injuries.

At least five aftershocks of 3.8-magnitude or more shook Tainan about half an hour after the initial quake, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau.

Taiwan’s Formosa TV showed images of police, firefighters and some troops in camouflage uniforms at the site of a collapsed residential building and said its reporters could hear the cries of some residents trapped inside.

The firefighters were hosing down part of the building to prevent a fire, while others used ladders and a crane to enter the upper floors.

The building appeared to have collapsed onto the first story where a child’s clothes were visible fluttering on a laundry line.

Taiwan lies in the seismically active “Pacific Ring of Fire” zone and it was struck by a magnitude 7.7 quake that killed more than 2,400 people in September 1999.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the latest quake, a magnitude 6.4, was centered 27 miles southeast of Tainan, a city of nearly 2 million people.

The quake was very shallow, at depth of 6.2 miles, which would have amplified its effects, the USGS said.

Taiwan’s China Post newspaper said on its website that more than one building collapsed in the quake.

“Collapsed buildings reported in Tainan, with rescue workers arriving on scene. The city government there has set up a level one emergency response center. Onlookers are urged not to block access to emergency crews moving into the area,” the newspaper said.

Tainan city’s fire department confirmed earlier that at least one building had partially collapsed and Liu Shih-chung, an official with the Tainan City Government, told Reuters the city had set up an emergency response center. Official information about the extent of damages from the quake was not immediately available.

According to the USGS, the last time Taiwan was struck by a quake of the same magnitude as Saturday’s was in April 2015, but that temblor was much deeper.

(Reporting by JR Wu and Tomasch Janowski; Additional reporting by Eric Walsh and Eric Beech; Editing by Sandra Maler and Tom Brown)

China Angry After U.S. Sells $1.83 Billion in Weapons to Taiwan

The United States government on Wednesday authorized selling a $1.83 billion defense package to Taiwan, a transaction that immediately drew objections, criticisms and sanctions from China.

CNN reported the package Taiwan purchased mainly consists of weapons used for defense. It includes amphibious assault vehicles, a pair of frigates and anti-aircraft and anti-ship weapons.

A state department spokesman addressed the sale at a news conference on Wednesday, saying it was “based on our assessment of Taiwan’s defense needs” and in line with the government’s existing diplomatic policies regarding China and Taiwan, nations that have long been at odds.

China, though, doesn’t see it that way.

Speaking to Xinhua, China’s state-run media service, Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang said Beijing “strongly opposes” the transaction, which it believes violates the diplomatic agreements. Zheng told the news agency that China imposed sanctions on the companies involved in the sale.

“No one can shake the firm will of the Chinese government and people to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to oppose foreign interference,” Zheng told Xinhua.

Relations between China and Taiwan have been fragile since the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949. Taiwan governs itself, though Beijing claims that the island remains Chinese territory.

It isn’t the first time that the United States has sold weapons to Taiwan.

Focus Taiwan, a news agency, reported it was the fourth transaction since 2008, the year in which U.S. President Barack Obama was elected and Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou took office. Those deals have been worth more than $20 billion, but this was the first exchange since 2011.

A spokesperson for China’s Defense Ministry, Yang Yujun, told Xinhua on Thursday that the arms transaction was “wrongdoing” that would “inevitably harm China-U.S. military relations.” Xinhua reported Zheng summoned officials at the U.S. embassy in China to discuss the sale.

The U.S. state department doesn’t see why the sale would hurt its relationship with China.

“There’s no need for it to have any derogatory effect on our relationship with China, just like there was no need in the past for it to ever have that effect on China,” spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday. “We still want to work to establish a better, more transparent, more effective relationship with China in the region, and we’re going to continue to work at that.”

China and Taiwan Leaders to Meet for First Time Since 1949

Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou on Saturday, the first time since the two governments split in 1949 at the end of the Chinese civil war.

Both leaders have stated that Saturday’s meeting will focus on relations across the Taiwan Straits.

Reuters reports that the timing of the meeting takes place at the same time as a rising anti-China sentiment sweeps Taiwan. With elections in Taiwan only a few weeks away, analysts believe the meeting is a sign that China is worried about the opposing party winning the election. This would ruin the currently rebuilt relations between China and Taiwan that the current Taiwanese president made a key policy since he took office in 2008. Since Ma has been president, China and Taiwan have signed 23 deals covering transit, investments, and mainly trade.

This could mean war between China and Taiwan as the Chinese government has threatened to use military force against Taiwan if the country ever tried to gain total independence, according to BBC News. China does claim sovereignty over Taiwan and believes the two will be reunited in the future.

Last year, Chinese President Xi recommended a one-country, two-system joint rule where Beijing controlled Taiwan, but Taiwan would continue to retain a political system and some autonomy.

Taiwanese officials and President Ma will hold press conferences regarding the meeting on Wednesday and Thursday.