Tag: Taiwan

Taiwan building inferno kills 46, dozens injured

  TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — An overnight fire tore through a building in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung on Thursday, killing 46 people and injuring dozens of others in the island’s deadliest blaze in decades. The fire broke out in the 13-storey, mixed-use building in the small hours of Thursday morning, according to officials, raging through multiple floors before firefighters finally got it under control. Pictures published by Taiwan’s official Central News Agency showed […]

Taiwan leader says island will not bow to China

  by Sean CHANG Agence France Presse TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan will not bow to pressure by Beijing and will defend its democratic way of life, President Tsai Ing-wen said Sunday, following a spike in incursions by Chinese warplanes into its air defence zone. Self-governed Taiwan’s 23 million people live under the constant threat of invasion by authoritarian China, which views the island as its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, […]

China’s Xi says reunification with Taiwan ‘will be realized’

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s President Xi Jinping said Saturday “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan “will be and can be realized”, days after Chinese warplanes made record incursions into the air defence zone of the democratically ruled island. Self-governed Taiwan, which has never formally declared independence, lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which views the island as its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary. “Realising […]

Taiwan official warns China military tensions highest in decades

by Amber WANG TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Military tensions between China and Taiwan are at their highest in four decades, the island’s defence minister warned Wednesday, adding Beijing would be in a position to launch a full-scale invasion in 2025. Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which views the self-ruled democratic island as its territory to be seized one day, by force if necessary. Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng offered his assessment […]

Tsai warns of ‘catastrophic consequences’ if Taiwan falls

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen warned of “catastrophic consequences” if the island were to fall to China and vowed to “do whatever it takes” to guard against threats in an article published on Tuesday. Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which views the self-ruled democratic island as its territory to be re-taken one day, by force if necessary. President Xi Jinping has described the seizure of Taiwan as […]

Taiwan rebukes China over record fighter jet incursion

by Amber WANG Agence France Presse TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan accused Beijing of bullying and damaging regional peace Saturday after Chinese fighter jets and bombers made their largest-ever incursion into the island’s air defence zone. Beijing marked its National Day on Friday with its biggest aerial show of force against Taiwan, buzzing the self-ruled democratic island with 38 warplanes, including nuclear-capable H-6 bombers. That was followed by a new record incursion on Saturday by […]

UK warship makes rare transit through Taiwan Strait

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — The Royal Navy said a British warship was sailing through the Taiwan Strait on Monday, a rare voyage by a non-US military vessel through the sensitive waterway that is likely to strain ties with Beijing. “After a busy period working with partners and allies in the East China Sea, we are now en route through the Taiwan Strait to visit Vietnam and the Vietnam People’s Navy,” tweeted HMS Richmond, a frigate […]

China’s Xi warns of ‘grim’ situation with Taiwan

  TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that relations between Beijing and Taipei were “grim” on Sunday, urging the island’s main opposition party to help seek “unification of the country.” China views self-ruled democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and vows to retake it one day, by force if necessary. Xi has become the most bellicose leader since Mao Zedong, describing the seizure of the island as “inevitable.” In a congratulatory […]

Chinese jets fly near Taiwan as Beijing opposes island’s trade deal bid

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — China on Thursday voiced opposition to Taiwan joining a major trans-Pacific trade deal as it flew 24 planes including two nuclear-capable bombers into the self-ruled island’s air defence zone, the biggest incursion in weeks, Taiwanese officials said. Last week Beijing submitted its own application to become a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Taiwan has lobbied for years to join and announced on Thursday that it […]

Taiwan applies to join Pacific trade deal days after China

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) —  Taiwan has applied to join a major trans-Pacific trade deal, officials confirmed Thursday, days after China said it also wanted to become a member of the agreement. Signed by 11 Asia-Pacific countries in 2018, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is the region’s biggest free-trade pact and accounts for around 13.5 percent of the global economy. “Most of (the CPTPP’s) member countries are Taiwan’s key trade partners, accounting […]

Taiwan jets land on highway for Chinese invasion wargame

PINGTUNG, Taiwan (AFP) — Fighter jets practised landing on a highway in southern Taiwan on Wednesday as part of an annual live-fire military exercise that simulates defending the island against an invasion by China. Democratic Taiwan lives under constant threat of invasion by Beijing, which claims the island as part of its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary. Military tensions have risen to their highest in decades under […]

Typhoon drenches Taiwan but spares island a direct hit

  TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Typhoon Chanthu unleashed powerful winds and heavy rain on eastern Taiwan Sunday, disrupting travel links and cutting electricity to some homes but sparing the island a direct hit. Downgraded from a super typhoon since its rapid formation last week, the outer edges of Chanthu pounded the eastern coastline. But the centre of the storm remained out to sea as it moved north, the central weather bureau said. The eastern regions […]