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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan is confident it can sign a trade deal with Washington, its leader told visiting US lawmakers Thursday, adding that the island “will not back down” against Chinese threats. Washington unveiled plans for formal trade talks with Taiwan in a show of support as China was staging huge military drills last month. Taiwan lives under constant threat of an invasion by China, which claims the democratically ruled island as part of […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan said a Chinese military reconnaissance drone entered its air defense zone on Monday, the latest incursion as relations between the two neighbors remain tense. The drone, identified by Taipei’s defense ministry as a BZK-007 vehicle, crossed into the southwest corner of the island’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) along with eight Chinese warplanes. Taiwan’s ADIZ is much larger than its airspace and overlaps with part of China’s ADIZ and even […]
by Shaun TANDON Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Friday announced a $1.1 billion arms package for Taiwan, vowing to keep boosting the island’s defenses as tensions soar with Beijing, which warned Washington of “counter-measures.” The sale comes a month after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defiantly visited the self-governing democracy, prompting mainland China to launch a show of force that could be a trial run for a future […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwanese soldiers on a tiny islet just off China’s mainland shot down an “unidentified civilian drone” on Thursday after it entered a restricted zone, Taipei’s military said. It is the first time Taiwanese forces have downed a drone and comes at a time when tensions between Beijing and Taipei are at their highest in decades. Taiwan’s defence ministry said a small civilian drone entered a “restricted zone” above Shiyu Islet, […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan said Wednesday it would exercise its right to self-defence and “counter-attack” if Chinese fighters and warships were to enter its territorial space, in the wake of Beijing’s huge military drills around the island. The self-ruled, democratic island lives under constant threat of an invasion by China, which claims it as part of its territory to be seized one day — by force if necessary. Tensions in the Taiwan Strait […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taipei and Beijing have traded barbs over a recent string of drone sorties that have flown from the Chinese mainland to an outlying Taiwanese island, some surveilling military outposts. Photos and video taken by Chinese drones of the Kinmen islands have been circulating on both Taiwan and Chinese social media, with one video showing Taiwanese soldiers hurling rocks at one to drive it off. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Two United States warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, the American navy said, the first such transit since China staged unprecedented military drills around the island. In a statement, the US Navy said the transit “demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.” Tensions in the Taiwan Strait soared to their highest level in years this month after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited […]
by Amber WANG Agence France-Presse TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — US Senator Marsha Blackburn landed in Taiwan late Thursday, the fourth visit by an American politician this month and a move bound to rile Beijing, which has staged huge military drills to protest such trips. Tensions between China and the United States have soared to their highest level in decades since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit triggered Beijing’s unprecedented show of force around the island earlier […]
Taipei, Taiwan (AFP) Taiwan announced plans for a record increase to its defence budget on Thursday after huge military drills by China earlier this month sent tensions between the two to their highest in decades. Taipei has proposed a defence budget of Tw$415.1 billion ($13.7 billion) for next year, up 13 percent year-on-year, pending parliamentary approval. An additional special budget will also be created specifically to acquire new fighter jets and other projects to boost […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — A United States governor met Taiwan’s president Monday, days after Washington announced trade talks with Taipei in a show of support following China’s military threats toward the self-ruled island. Eric Holcomb, the Republican governor of the US state of Indiana, landed in Taiwan on Sunday for an “economic development trip”. US-China tensions have risen since Beijing staged huge military drills in retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan […]
Russian president accuses US of trying to prolong conflict in Ukraine, fueling potential for conflict in Asia MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused Washington of seeking to prolong the conflict in Ukraine and of fuelling conflicts elsewhere in the world, including with the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. “The situation in Ukraine shows that the US is trying to prolong this conflict. And they act […]
by Amber Wang Agence France-Presse KINMEN, Taiwan (AFP) — Visiting Taiwan’s tiny Kinmen Islands last week, Joseph Lin practiced standing up on his paddleboard, drifting across from the Chinese city of Xiamen, where days earlier fighter jets had screamed overhead. The Taiwanese islets, just two miles from China’s coast, have become a popular tourist destination, and Beijing’s massive military drills this month failed to deter domestic visitors from jetting closer to their saber-rattling neighbor. Lin, […]
