Latest news with #cross-strait
NHK
15-06-2025
- Politics
- NHK
Taiwan ex-President Ma attends forum in China
Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has attended a forum in China to expand cross-strait exchanges. China held the annual Straits Forum in Xiamen, Fujian Province, on Sunday. Xiamen is located west of Taiwan. China's state-run media and other outlets reported that more than 7,000 people were invited from Taiwan, along with Ma, who belongs to Taiwan's largest opposition Kuomintang party. Wang Huning, a member of the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee and the party's No.4 official, called for firmly opposing Taiwan's independence and external interference and protecting the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait. This comment apparently referred to Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which Beijing regards as pro-independence. Ma said deepening cooperation under a common foundation against Taiwan's independence will help create a phase of peace and mutual benefit. Beijing apparently wants to give a warning to Taiwan's ruling party under President Lai Ching-te by stressing interactions through Ma. Taiwanese authorities said the forum is a united front platform by the Chinese Communist Party targeting Taiwan.
NHK
11-06-2025
- Politics
- NHK
Ex-Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou to visit China this month
Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou will visit China later this month. He is also former chair of Taiwan's Kuomintang party which takes a more conciliatory stance toward China than the Democratic Progressive Party that currently holds power. Ma's office said on Wednesday that the visit, scheduled from Saturday through June 27, is at the invitation of China. Ma will lead a student delegation to participate in the Straits Forum, which China says is a cross-strait exchange event, in Fujian Province. The delegation is also expected to visit Gansu Province, including Dunhuang, which is famous for monuments of the ancient Silk Road trading route. Ma expressed his willingness to foster cross-strait dialogue and build a bridge of peace between Taiwan and China. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, a spokesperson for China's State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhu Fenglian, welcomed Ma's visit. She noted that while current situations surrounding the Taiwan Strait remain complex and tense, bilateral exchanges and cooperation should never be suspended or severed entirely. China is apparently seeking to keep the Taiwanese government of President Lai Ching-te in check through exchanges with Ma.
South China Morning Post
07-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Taiwan's latest security measures cut cross-strait travel, prompting pushback
Taiwanese authorities are moving to tighten security protocols on cross-strait travel by expanding oversight to include grass-roots public officials and newly hired staff members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The push, which mirrors similar but much harsher restrictions on the other side of the Taiwan Strait , comes amid fears that mainland Chinese intelligence has deeply infiltrated the Taiwanese political system. At the centre of a growing scandal is former DPP aide Huang Chu-jung, who is under investigation for allegedly using an encrypted messaging app developed on the mainland to leak classified information. Notably, the information in question involves the travel details of Taiwan's second most senior official at the time – now the island's leader – William Lai Ching-te , when he visited Paraguay in August 2023. Local media reported on Tuesday that prosecutors were alleging that Huang, who once worked for DPP New Taipei City Councillor Lee Yu-tien, also leaked travel plans from Lai's leadership campaign later the same year, compromising his personal security. Prosecutors said that through the app, which is not available on the market, Beijing obtained access to Lai's full daily itinerary – including unannounced meetings with political power brokers, business leaders, and local influencers. According to the prosecution case, the breaches extended beyond Lai's office. Other classified information alleged to have been funnelled to the mainland included deputy leader Hsiao Bi-khim's personal contact list and phone number.
South China Morning Post
03-06-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Risk of military mishap rising as PLA steps up ‘salami slicing': former Taiwan minister
The risks of a cross-strait military accident are on the rise as Beijing steps up pressure on Taiwan, a former Taiwanese defence official has warned, citing the lack of direct communication channels between the two sides. Advertisement Andrew Yang Nien-dzu, who served as Taiwan's deputy defence minister for four years and briefly held the role of minister, spoke to the South China Morning Post on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue , Asia's premier security conference. Yang raised concerns over the increasing 'grey zone operations' by Beijing, including the more frequent activities by its coastguard forces near Taiwan. These were more difficult to handle, he said, as they 'are not actually military operations but carry a military message .' 'Although there have not been accidental conflicts [between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait], this kind of activity has placed immense pressure on us,' he said. Yang also voiced concerns about the lack of official communication between Beijing and Taipei since 2016. Advertisement Exchanges were suspended that year after the previous Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen took office and refused to accept the one-China principle. Formal talks remain halted under current leader William Lai Ching-te who, like Tsai, is from the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
South China Morning Post
29-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Why Taiwan's Lai Ching-te was silent on cross-strait relations
Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@ or filling in this Google form . Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification Many had watched to see if Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te would clarify his cross-strait policy in his speech last week marking his first anniversary in office. Yet in his remarks – his most internationally scrutinised speech to date – he made no mention of it. Some may see this as flexible de-escalation or a goodwill gesture. But in fact, Lai had little choice: constrained by US policy uncertainty and limited leverage over Beijing, he had to resort to evasion and strategic self-censorship. Seen as a proponent of Taiwanese independence, Lai has asserted the two sides are ' not subordinate to each other '. His administration has also tightened controls on cross-strait exchanges, from banning academic ties to regulating mainland Chinese spouses and drafting regulatory mechanisms to oversee Taiwanese residents in mainland China. These actions have raised concerns about the systematic dismantling of regular social and interpersonal ties across the Strait. Though Lai pushes rhetorical boundaries, his diplomatic doctrine remains simple. He has relinquished Taiwan's ability to manage cross-strait relations and instead pinned all hopes on a harder-line US posture towards Beijing. Yet such a strategy does not always guarantee returns.
