Taiwan’s main opposition leader said cross-strait peace can be maintained as long as Taipei did not move towards “de jure independence”, during her trip in the United States. Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Kuomintang (KMT), attended a closed-door seminar at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government on Thursday, according to a KMT statement on Friday. Cheng told the seminar that peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which she described as the greatest common denominator...
The need for Beijing and Washington to pursue “reconciliation and cooperation” and avoid war is the central message of her US trip, Taiwan’s main opposition leader Cheng Li-wun said in San Francisco. Cheng, leading a delegation from the Kuomintang (KMT), arrived in San Francisco on Monday evening, beginning a two-week US visit closely watched in Beijing, Taipei and Washington. In San Francisco’s Chinatown on Tuesday, Cheng said China and the US should forge “a relationship of friendship and...
Donald Trump’s blunt warning that he was not looking to have “somebody go independent” after his summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping has reignited debate in Taiwan over whether Washington is hardening its message on the island. For many in Taipei, the US president’s remarks evoked memories of the George W. Bush administration, when Washington publicly checked Taiwan over moves seen as edging towards formal independence. But just as analysts were debating whether Trump had delivered the...
Beijing has accused Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te of “destroying cross-strait peace” shortly after he gave a speech to mark his second anniversary in power in the wake of Donald Trump’s remarks on Taiwan independence. The State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) said on Tuesday that Lai’s anniversary speech and his subsequent remarks to reporters were filled with “lies and deception, hostility and confrontation”. Spokesman Chen Binhua said Lai had “stubbornly adhered to the erroneous...
Taiwan will send its top trade negotiator to next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) ministerial meeting in mainland China – a rare occurrence since the two sides cut off official communication in 2016. Analysts said the move suggested both sides were still trying to preserve a workable status quo within the regional forum despite worsening cross-strait tensions. The Apec trade ministers’ meeting will be held in Suzhou, a city in Jiangsu province, between May 22 and 23. Yang Jen-ni,...