Latest news with #MainlandAffairsCouncil
The Sun
a day ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Czech intel: China plotted to intimidate Taiwan VP-elect
PRAGUE: Chinese diplomats and secret service followed Taiwan's Vice-President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim and planned to intimidate her physically when she visited Prague last year, Czech military intelligence said on Friday. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic in March 2024. Prague does not have official diplomatic ties with Taiwan but has fostered warm relations with the democratically-governed island, which China views as its own territory. Czech media reported last year that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light when following her car. Czech public radio news website said on Thursday that the Chinese had also planned to stage a demonstrative car crash. Czech Military Intelligence spokesman said Chinese diplomats in Prague had taken actions that violated diplomatic rules. 'This consisted of physically following the vice-president, gathering information on her schedule and attempts to document her meetings with important representatives of the Czech political and public scene,' spokesman Jan Pejsek said in emailed comments to Reuters. 'We even recorded an attempt by the Chinese civil secret service to create conditions to perform a demonstrative kinetic action against a protected person, which however did not go beyond the phase of preparation.' A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, commenting on the matter, denied any wrongdoing by Chinese diplomats and also said the Czech Republic had interfered in China's internal affairs by allowing Hsiao's visit to go ahead. The Czech Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the Chinese ambassador over the incident at the time but did not comment further on Friday. TAIWAN PROTESTS Taiwan's China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council said the Chinese actions 'seriously threatened the personal safety of Vice President Hsiao and her entourage'. 'The Mainland Affairs Council today protested and strongly condemned the Chinese communist's bad behaviour and demanded that the Chinese side should immediately explain and publicly apologise,' it said. In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said: 'Chinese diplomats have always abided by the laws and regulations of the countries in which they are stationed.' 'China urges the parties concerned not to be provoked and exploited by separatist forces for Taiwan independence, and to not make a fuss over nothing, engage in malicious speculation, and interfere with and undermine the relations between the two countries.' Hsiao assumed office, along with President Lai Ching-te, on May 20 last year. Czech relations with China have cooled in recent years. The Czechs accused China in May of being behind a cyberattack on the foreign ministry. Czech politicians have visited Taiwan and former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visited Prague last October.
Straits Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Czechs say China followed, planned intimidation of Taiwan vice-president
PRAGUE - Chinese diplomats and secret service followed Taiwan's Vice-President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim and planned to intimidate her physically when she visited Prague last year, Czech military intelligence said on Friday. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic in March 2024. Prague does not have official diplomatic ties with Taiwan but has fostered warm relations with the democratically-governed island, which China views as its own territory. Czech media reported last year that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light when following her car. Czech public radio news website said on Thursday that the Chinese had also planned to stage a demonstrative car crash. Czech Military Intelligence spokesman said Chinese diplomats in Prague had taken actions that violated diplomatic rules. "This consisted of physically following the vice-president, gathering information on her schedule and attempts to document her meetings with important representatives of the Czech political and public scene," spokesman Jan Pejsek said in emailed comments to Reuters. "We even recorded an attempt by the Chinese civil secret service to create conditions to perform a demonstrative kinetic action against a protected person, which however did not go beyond the phase of preparation." A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, commenting on the matter, denied any wrongdoing by Chinese diplomats and also said the Czech Republic had interfered in China's internal affairs by allowing Hsiao's visit to go ahead. The Czech Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the Chinese ambassador over the incident at the time but did not comment further on Friday. TAIWAN PROTESTS Taiwan's China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council said the Chinese actions "seriously threatened the personal safety of Vice President Hsiao and her entourage". "The Mainland Affairs Council today protested and strongly condemned the Chinese communist's bad behaviour and demanded that the Chinese side should immediately explain and publicly apologise," it said. In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said: "Chinese diplomats have always abided by the laws and regulations of the countries in which they are stationed." "China urges the parties concerned not to be provoked and exploited by separatist forces for Taiwan independence, and to not make a fuss over nothing, engage in malicious speculation, and interfere with and undermine the relations between the two countries." Hsiao assumed office, along with President Lai Ching-te, on May 20 last year. Czech relations with China have cooled in recent years. The Czechs accused China in May of being behind a cyberattack on the foreign ministry. Czech politicians have visited Taiwan and former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visited Prague last October. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
AsiaOne
4 days ago
- Politics
- AsiaOne
China says Taiwan president spreading 'heresy' with sovereignty speech, Asia News
BEIJING — China on Monday (June 23) accused Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te of "heresy", hostility and provocation, after a speech in which he said the island is "of course" a country and there is historical evidence and legal proof to back this up. Beijing says democratically governed Taiwan is "sacred" Chinese territory that has belonged to China since ancient times, and that the island is one of its provinces with no right to be called a state. Lai and his government strongly reject that view, and have offered talks with China multiple times but have been rejected. China calls Lai a separatist. China's Taiwan Affairs Office, responding to Lai's Sunday evening speech, said he had intentionally distorted history to promote his Taiwan independence agenda and that the island has never been a country. "It was a 'Taiwan independence' declaration that blatantly incited cross-strait confrontation, and a hodgepodge of 'Taiwan independence' fallacies and heresies full of errors and omissions," it said in a statement. "The fallacies fabricated by Lai Ching-te in contravention of history, reality and jurisprudence will only be swept into the rubbish heap of history." Responding, Taiwan's China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council said Lai was simply stating historical facts and Beijing's belief the island has been Chinese since ancient times and is not a country is "just a fabricated lie without any basis". "We call on the Chinese communist authorities to face up to the fact that the Republic of China objectively exists and the status quo in the Taiwan Strait that 'the two sides are not subordinate to each other'," it added in a statement. In 1949, the Republic of China government fled to Taiwan after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists, and that remains the island's formal name. Lai has repeatedly said that only Taiwan's people can decide their future, and that, as the People's Republic of China has never ruled the island, it has no right to claim it or speak on its behalf. Taiwan has over the past five years faced stepped-up military and political pressure from China, including war games. [[nid:719376]]
New Straits Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
China says Taiwan president spreading 'heresy' with sovereignty speech
BEIJING: China on Monday accused Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te of "heresy", hostility and provocation, after a speech in which he said the island is "of course" a country and that there is historical evidence and legal proof to back this up. Beijing says democratically governed Taiwan is "sacred" Chinese territory that has belonged to China since ancient times, and that the island is one of its provinces with no right to be called a state. Lai and his government strongly reject that view, and have offered talks with China multiple times but have been rejected. China calls Lai a separatist. China's Taiwan Affairs Office, responding to Lai's Sunday evening speech, said he had intentionally distorted history to promote his Taiwan independence agenda and that the island has never been a country. "It was a 'Taiwan independence' declaration that blatantly incited cross-strait confrontation, and a hodgepodge of 'Taiwan independence' fallacies and heresies full of errors and omissions," it said in a statement. "The fallacies fabricated by Lai Ching-te in contravention of history, reality and jurisprudence will only be swept into the rubbish heap of history." Responding, Taiwan's China-policy-making Mainland Affairs Council said Lai was simply stating historical facts, and Beijing's belief that the island has been Chinese since ancient times and is not a country is "just a fabricated lie without any basis". "We call on the Chinese communist authorities to face up to the fact that the Republic of China objectively exists and the status quo in the Taiwan Strait that 'the two sides are not subordinate to each other'," it added in a statement. In 1949, the Republic of China government fled to Taiwan after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists, and that remains the island's formal name. Lai has repeatedly said that only Taiwan's people can decide their future, and that, as the People's Republic of China has never ruled the island, it has no right to claim it or speak on its behalf. Taiwan has over the past five years faced stepped-up military and political pressure from China, including war games.
Mint
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Taiwan tries to purge its ranks of China sympathizers
TAIPEI—Taiwan has embarked on a mission to purge any allies of Beijing from its civil service in an escalating battle against China's influence—vetting hundreds of thousands of workers and threatening to revoke the citizenship of those found to be Chinese citizens. For the first time since President Lai Ching-te launched a campaign against what he described as Chinese infiltration in Taiwan, authorities said last week that they were taking action against a teacher who obtained permanent residence status in China, a step short of citizenship. Lai has made the preservation of Taiwan's self-rule a political rallying cry, pressing for a military buildup to ward off a potential Chinese invasion and for civilians to increase their vigilance against Beijing, which considers the island to be part of its territory. After a March speech in which Lai declared that China is a 'foreign adversary," authorities began asking military personnel to declare if they possessed documents linking them to the mainland, such as Chinese identification cards, which signify Chinese citizenship. Last week, top offices in Taiwan's government began a fresh round of staff background checks. The vetting process is a response to China's 'gray zone" pressure campaign, which ranges from social-media messaging to near-daily displays of military force aimed at convincing people in Taiwan that they would be better off ceding power to Beijing. Lai stepped up efforts to combat alleged Chinese spying and influence following revelations of a series of espionage cases involving Taiwan's military, retired officials and former high-level aides. The hunt for alleged China sympathizers is an indication of the political tilt of Lai and his ruling party, in contrast to an opposition that supports closer ties with Beijing. China has issued residence permits and identity documents to people from Taiwan who work or live on the mainland, among incentives to encourage investment and promote what Beijing calls 'integrated development." The Chinese approach mirrors Moscow's issuance of Russian IDs to residents of eastern Ukraine, said Ho Cheng-hui, co-founder of Kuma Academy, a civilian organization focused on Taiwan's self-defense. 'It's essentially a strategy of nibbling away and swallowing whole," he said. 'It doesn't look like a large-scale invasion, but over time, they gradually absorb them through these means." The most likely reason for people in Taiwan to hold Chinese IDs is that they or their parents emigrated from China. On the mainland, identity documents provide certain rights and make it easier to take care of such tasks as opening a bank account. In the past few weeks, Taiwan expanded the ID-vetting process to local governments, schools and universities, telling administrators to punish employees who hold or have applied for Chinese identity cards but failed to report doing so. Chiu Chui-cheng of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council says a vetting process has yielded a handful of offenders. A union in Taiwan representing nearly 80,000 teachers said recently that the screening placed an undue burden on educators and urged the government to limit the checks to those in administrative positions. 'Schools shouldn't become 'ATMs' for government departments" looking to score political points, said Hou Chun-liang of the teachers union. Since the vetting process began earlier this year, it has yielded a handful of offenders, according to Chiu Chui-cheng, head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, which manages relations with Beijing. After screening 371,203 military personnel and civil servants, the review identified two employees who had applied for Chinese ID cards and 75 who had sought residence permits in China, Chiu said. 'The number so far has been quite small," said Ja Ian Chong, a political scientist who teaches at National University of Singapore. But, he added, 'It is unsurprising that the Lai administration is taking action in response" to increasing Chinese political and military pressure. 'Any government that sees itself as serving the people in Taiwan first and foremost would likely take similar action," he said. Under Taiwan law, citizens can lose their household registration, effectively meaning losing their citizenship, if they own a Chinese ID card. The government expanded the interpretation of that law in April, declaring that holding a permanent-residence permit in mainland China could also result in the effective revocation of citizenship. A spokeswoman for Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office said at the time that Chinese IDs and residency permits were intended as a convenience for people from Taiwan living in China, alleging that Taipei was attempting to 'undermine efforts to bring people on both sides of the strait closer together." In the latest case, Taiwan said last week that it had revoked the citizenship of Chang Li-chi, a teacher at Huaqiao University in Fujian, China. Chang, who was born in Taiwan, obtained a Chinese permanent-residence permit last year, describing it in an online interview as 'the realization of a long-pursued and eagerly awaited goal." He also wrote an essay in Chinese state media about his wish to join China's Communist Party. Chang, in a video posted on the Chinese platform Toutiao, said Taiwan's decision was legally groundless and a case of political persecution. 'If he wants to come to Taiwan in the future, he'll have to apply for an entry permit," said the Mainland Affairs Council's deputy chief, Liang Wen-chieh. Write to Joyu Wang at
