Taiwan expects greater China pressure after Xi cements power: FM

Beijing will step up efforts to pick off Taiwan’s last remaining allies after Xi Jinping secured a third term in power, as Chinese officials up the ante to show loyalty to the president, Taipei’s foreign minister said Wednesday.

A major gathering of China’s communist leaders at the weekend saw Xi cement his status as the country’s most influential leader since Mao Zedong.

Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to take control of the island, by force if necessary.

It has spent decades encouraging Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to break ties in favour of China.

“It is conceivable that our diplomatic situation will become grimmer,” Taiwan’s top diplomat Joseph Wu said Wednesday.

He anticipated China would step up pressure on the 14 countries that still maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan as a way for Chinese officials to “show loyalty” to Xi.

“We have seen some warning intelligence… We hope our diplomatic relations will not be influenced by China,” Wu said at a parliamentary session.

“All of our embassies and missions are on tight vigilance now… We will verify the intelligence and take advantageous measures to consolidate diplomatic relations.”

Tensions between Taiwan and China soared to their highest level for years in August after Beijing staged huge and unprecedented military drills to protest against a visit to the island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Beijing lashes out at any diplomatic action that might lend Taiwan international legitimacy and has responded with growing anger to visits by Western politicians.

When asked by a lawmaker if Beijing is speeding up its timeline for taking Taiwan, Wu said the military threat has been “rapidly growing” in recent years.

“Whether China decides it’s next year, the year after next year, 2025, 2027, 2030 or whatever time they see the conditions as mature to attack Taiwan, the most important thing for us is to be well prepared to defend ourselves,” he said.

Separately, Wu announced Wednesday that Taiwan planned to donate US$56 million to Ukraine to help it rebuild schools, hospitals and infrastructure.

There has been an outpouring of public support for Ukraine in Taiwan since Russia’s invasion, which has deepened fears that Beijing might similarly follow through on threats to annex the island.

“Ukraine stands as a role model for Taiwan,” Wu said at a reception for visiting lawmakers from Ukraine and Lithuania.

“We both are fighting for freedom and democracy, and we know Ukraine is going to prevail. Ukraine is going to win. Glory to Ukraine and we will win with Ukraine.”

The donation, pending parliament’s approval, follows a public fundraising drive for Ukraine that collected nearly US$33 million in just four weeks earlier this year.

Taiwan documentary censored in Hong Kong over protest scene
Hong Kong (AFP) Oct 25, 2022 – A Taiwanese documentary on women migrant workers has been withdrawn from a movie festival in Hong Kong after its producers refused an order from censors to remove a scene depicting a street protest, the filmmaker has said.

Hong Kong has stepped up film censorship since China imposed a sweeping national security law on the city two years ago to quash political dissent after huge, sometimes violent democracy protests in 2019.

“The Lucky Woman”, directed by Tseng Wen-chen, was set to be screened Sunday at the ifva All About Us independent film festival, which is being organised by the Hong Kong Arts Centre with a focus on migrants in Asia.

But the director on Monday said event organisers had been told by Hong Kong’s Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration to remove a section about a protest in front of Taiwan’s presidential building before showing the film.

“So we decided to cancel the screening,” Tseng wrote on the movie’s social media page.

The documentary follows two Vietnamese women who travel to Taiwan for work but flee their contracted employers for life as undocumented migrants.

The film’s withdrawal came days after an outdoor screening of Batman film “The Dark Knight” in Hong Kong was scrapped after censors decided “the level of violence was not appropriate”.

Relations between Hong Kong and Taiwan have worsened in the past few years since Taiwan’s government openly supported the city’s protests of 2019, and as Beijing has stepped up diplomatic pressure on the self-ruled island.