Hello and welcome to the details of Incoming Taiwan president courts diplomatic allies with shrimp fishing and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - President-elect Lai Ching-te took leaders from some of Taiwan’s handful of remaining diplomatic allies shrimping today, a day before he takes office and has to deal with China which believes the island has no right to the trappings of a state. — Reuters pic
TAIPEI, May 19 — President-elect Lai Ching-te took leaders from some of Taiwan’s handful of remaining diplomatic allies shrimping today, a day before he takes office and has to deal with China which believes the island has no right to the trappings of a state.
Lai, detested by Beijing as a “separatist”, is expected to pledge to secure stability by maintaining the status quo in the island’s relationship with China in his inauguration speech on Monday.
Beijing views proudly democratic Taiwan as its own territory, over the strong objections of the government in Taipei, and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.
Only 12 countries now maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, mostly poorer developing nations such as Paraguay, Eswatini, Palau and St Lucia.
Advertisement
Taiwan has faced a sustained campaign from China, which snatched back Nauru from Taiwan shortly after Lai won election in January, to get the remaining allies to recognise Beijing.
“We will work with all sides to build a nation of prosperity and maintain the status quo across the Taiwan Strait,” Lai said at the covered shrimp fishing pond in Taipei’s foothills, shrimping being a popular Taiwanese leisure activity.
“And Taiwan is not alone. We have been working with international friends like you all who also uphold the values of democracy, freedom and human rights,” he added, speaking in English.
Advertisement
Lai was seated next to Eswatini’s King Mswati III, Africa’s last remaining absolute monarch, whose country was rocked by violent pro-democracy protests in 2021.
Lai hugged Paraguay President Santiago Pena as he arrived.
Since winning election in January, Lai, 64 and widely known by his English name William, Taiwan has faced on-going pressure from China, including regular air force and navy activities close to the island.
Also in attendance on Monday will be former US officials dispatched by President Joe Biden, and lawmakers from countries including Britain, Japan, Germany and Canada.
Last week, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Lai, who it called the “Taiwan region’s new leader” had to make a clear choice between peaceful development or confrontation.
His domestic challenges loom large too, given his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost its parliamentary majority in the January election.
On Friday, lawmakers punched, shoved and screamed at each other in a bitter dispute over parliamentary reforms the opposition is pushing.
There could be more fighting on Tuesday when lawmakers resume their discussions. — Reuters
These were the details of the news Incoming Taiwan president courts diplomatic allies with shrimp fishing for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
