1. US is in Venezuela for the long haul When asked how long he would be “running Venezuela”, Trump said it would be “much longer” than a year. After Trump initially claimed that the US was running the South American country, in the hours after the operation that seized President Nicolás Maduro, members of Trump’s cabinet sought to downplay America’s role in its governance. Since then however, Trump has continued to assert that he is in fact “in charge”. Saturday’s operation in Caracas has been described by some as a…
Tag: Taiwan
‘Mad fishing’: the super-size fleet of squid catchers plundering the high seas
In a monitoring room in Buenos Aires, a dozen members of the Argentinian coast guard watch giant industrial-fishing ships moving in real time across a set of screens. “Every year, for five or six months, the foreign fleet comes from across the Indian Ocean, from Asian countries, and from the North Atlantic,” says Cdr Mauricio López, of the monitoring department. “It’s creating a serious environmental problem.” Just beyond Argentina’s maritime frontier, hundreds of foreign vessels – known as the distant-water fishing fleet – are descending on Mile 201, a largely…
‘It ought to provide a deterrent’: what US action in Venezuela means for Taiwan
Perception that Chinese-made weapons could not stop a ‘decapitation strike’ may give Beijing pause for thought The sight of a hostile regional superpower launching an overnight raid to depose the leader of a smaller neighbouring country could easily have sent pulses in Taiwan racing. The US on Saturday revealed the details of a surprise raid to capture Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, who was whisked away to the US, where he was frogmarched into a court in New York on Monday. Continue reading… The Guardian
China threatened to cancel key trade talks after UK minister’s Taiwan visit in June
China threatened to cancel high-level trade talks with the UK earlier this year over a government minister’s visit to Taiwan, the Guardian can disclose. Beijing told the British government it would pull its first trade and economic dialogue with the UK in seven years after Douglas Alexander, then a trade minister, travelled to Taipei in late June. The engagement threatened to scupper the UK-China trade and economic commission (Jetco), which ultimately did go ahead after diplomats privately scrambled to contain the diplomatic fallout with Beijing. Peter Kyle flew to China…
Xi Jinping vows to reunify China and Taiwan in New Year’s Eve speech
China’s president, Xi Jinping, has vowed to reunify China and Taiwan in his annual New Year’s Eve speech in Beijing. Speaking the day after the conclusion of intense Chinese military drills around Taiwan, Xi said: “The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable.” China claims Taiwan, a self-governing island, as part of its territory and has long vowed to annex it, using force if necessary. US intelligence is increasingly concerned about the advancing capabilities of China’s armed forces to launch such an attack if Xi decides…
Australia says ‘deeply concerning, destabilising’ Chinese exercises near Taiwan risk inflaming regional tension
Australia says it is deeply concerned about Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, and has raised the issue with Chinese officials. In a statement released on Wednesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) said the large-scale simulations risked destabilising the region and could result in an accident or escalation. The People’s Liberation Army launched the expansive surprise attack simulation on Monday, calling the war games “Justice Mission 2025”. Dfat said the exercises were “deeply concerning, destabilising and risk inflaming regional tensions”. “Australia strongly opposes any actions that increase the…
Trump not worried by China’s simulated attack on Taiwan, he says, as live-fire drills enter second day
Donald Trump has said he is not worried by China’s live-fire military drills surrounding Taiwan and that he has a great relationship with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who “hasn’t told me anything about it”. The US president made the comments one day into the surprise attack simulation launched by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Monday, and which continued into Tuesday with live missile launches into the Taiwan Strait. The PLA, which is the armed wing of China’s ruling Communist party, said it had deployed destroyers, frigates, fighters, bombers,…
‘They want to destroy my career’: Kiwi Chow on life as a dissenting director in Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, where dissent is now characterised by silence, few dare openly criticise the government or the Chinese Communist party (CCP) that controls it. Film-maker Kiwi Chow is one of the few. “The Chinese Communist party’s practice is to try and destroy history and truth,” the 46-year-old director says from his home in the region. “It’s ridiculous that I can still live in Hong Kong without being in jail.” In a society where someone can be jailed for wearing a “seditious” T-shirt, his surprise is understandable. Chow is best…
China launches live-fire drills encircling Taiwan
China has launched live-fire military drills around Taiwan, in what it calls a warning to “separatist” forces in Taiwan and “external interference” by foreign parties. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) – the military wing of the ruling Communist party in China – said it had sent naval, air force and rocket forces to surround Taiwan on Monday morning. The exercise, named Justice Mission 2025, was a “a stern warning against ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and external interference forces”, said a spokesperson for the PLA’s eastern theatre command, Col Shi Yi.…
‘Ferryman of the souls’: the man who helps Taiwan’s dead return home to China
In the leafy back blocks of a military cemetery in northern Taiwan, Liu De-wen strides through a room holding rows and rows of shelves. He stops and stoops to the lowest row, opening a small, ornate gold door. He pulls out an urn, bundles it into his lap, and hugs it. “Grandpa Lin, follow me closely,” Liu says. “I am bringing you back home to Fujian as you wished. Stay close.” Inside the jade green urn are the ashes of Lin Ru Min, a former soldier who was 103 when…