On Friday, the small Pacific island nation of Tuvalu will head to the polls to elect members of its 16-seat parliament. With the country’s population sitting at just over 11,000, Tuvalu’s elections rarely spark international headlines. But, against a backdrop of intense geopolitical competition and China’s rising influence in the region, greater scrutiny surrounds this year’s vote – and its outcome may have implications far beyond Tuvalu’s shores. What is happening? Candidates in Tuvalu are battling for one of the two seats in each of Tuvalu’s eight island electorates. Many…
Tag: Taiwan
Shih Ming-teh, Defiant Activist for a Democratic Taiwan, Dies at 83
Shih Ming-teh, a lifelong campaigner for democracy in Taiwan who spent over two decades in prison for his cause and later started a protest movement against a president from his former party, died on Jan. 15, his 83rd birthday, in Taipei, the island’s capital. The cause was complications of an operation to remove a liver tumor, said his wife, Chia-chiun Chen Shih. Mr. Shih helped lead a pro-democracy protest in 1979 that was brutally broken up by the police and that is now viewed as a turning point in Taiwan’s…
Taiwan’s Doubts About America Are Growing. That Could Be Dangerous.
The collection of American memorabilia, vast and well-lit in a busy area of City Hall in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan, reflected decades of eager courtship. Maps highlighted sister cities in Ohio and Arizona. There was a celebration of baseball, an American flag laid out on a table. And in the middle of it all, a card sent to the United States that seemed to reveal the thinking of Tainan, a metropolis of 1.8 million, and nearly all of Taiwan. “Together, stronger,” it said. “Solidarity conquers all.” The message…
China’s muted reaction to Taiwan’s election result may signal a waiting game
China conducted joint combat patrols around Taiwan on Wednesday, in a potential resumption of military intimidation after Taiwan’s presidential election last weekend. But analysts say the reaction from China’s ruling Communist party has been relatively muted so far, despite the success of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive party (DPP) – which Beijing loathes as “separatists” – in retaining the presidency. On Thursday morning Taiwan’s defence ministry reported the People’s Liberation Army had sent 24 planes and five navy vessels into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone in the previous 24 hours, the…
China lodges protests at Australia’s response to Taiwan’s presidential election
China has lodged diplomatic protests with Australia for congratulating the winner of Taiwan’s presidential election, with the Chinese ambassador warning there is “no room at all” for compromise on the “sensitive” issue. China’s top envoy in Australia, Xiao Qian, also dashed hopes that the Australian writer Dr Yang Hengjun might be released from custody in a similar manner to the Australian journalist Cheng Lei last year. The ambassador further denied that a Chinese warship had subjected Australian naval divers to dangerous sonar pulses in an incident in Japan’s exclusive economic…
Taiwan revels in its young democracy as president-elect charts fresh course
On Sunday in Taipei, the sun rose. The city’s parks and morning markets filled with people enjoying the unseasonable warmth, and the smell of the city’s inexplicably expensive coffees drifted through the laneways as scooters buzzed through the crowds of pedestrians and bicycles. Twelve hours earlier an election watched by the world, framed as a choice between “war and peace” or “democracy and authoritarianism” with existential implications for the global order, came to an end. A winner was declared, a loser conceded, voters were either overjoyed or disappointed. China –…
Taiwan Loses Ally Nauru After Electing President Beijing Loathes
Just two days after Taiwan elected as its next leader Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing sees as a staunch separatist, it lost a diplomatic ally in its rivalry with China. Nauru, a tiny freckle of land in the Pacific Ocean, announced that it would be severing diplomatic relations with Taiwan, effective immediately. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it welcomed the decision by Nauru and is ready to establish relations with it. Taiwan’s foreign ministry indicated that it had no doubt that Beijing had orchestrated the Pacific island’s shift, stating…
Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of China
Nauru has switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China less than 48 hours after Taiwan’s presidential election. In a statement, the government of the tiny island country in Micronesia, north-east of Australia, said it had decided to recognise the People’s Republic of China and was seeking the resumption of full diplomatic relations “in the best interests of the Republic and people of Nauru”. The decision leaves Taiwan with just 12 formal diplomatic allies. A spokesperson for China’s ministry of foreign affairs said it “welcomed” the decision and that it would…
Taiwan’s election result is a triumph for democracy – and a thorn in Beijing’s side | Michelle Kuo
On a gorgeous, sunny Saturday, Taiwan held its presidential election: 14 million people, or 72% of eligible voters, turned out to vote – my elderly parents among them. As with many families in Taiwan, ours is politically divided along generational lines, and we’ve had our share of screaming matches. But somehow, on voting day, we were at peace. “I’m proud of you,” I said, snapping a photo. And I meant it. We live in a democracy, and we all appreciate it. Afterwards, we lunched at a spot that had a…
Why Taiwan’s Election Matters to the World
Taiwan’s election on Saturday has big implications not only for the 23 million people who live on the island, but also for China’s superpower rivalry with the United States. Voters chose as their next president Lai Ching-te, the current vice president, who has vowed to continue his party’s policy of protecting the island’s sovereignty. The vote is a rebuke to Beijing’s claim over Taiwan and the growing pressure it has been exerting on the island democracy. As in all major Taiwanese elections, how to deal with China was a central…