Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meeting leaders in Taiwan despite warnings from China, said Wednesday that she and other members of Congress in a visiting delegation are showing they will not abandon their commitment to the self-governing island.

“Today the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy,” she said in a short speech during a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. “America’s determination to preserve democracy, here in Taiwan and around the world, remains ironclad.”

TAIPEI/WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Digital attacks against Taiwanese government websites ahead of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's arrival in Tapei on Tuesday were likely launched by Chinese activist hackers rather than the Chinese government, a cybersecurity research organisation said.

The website of Taiwan's presidential office was targeted by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on Tuesday and was at one point malfunctioning, the office said in a statement.

TAIPEI/BEIJING, Aug 1 (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi was set to visit Taiwan on Tuesday, Taiwanese media reported on Monday, citing unidentified sources, as China warned that its military would never "sit idly by" if she were to visit the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing.

One of the newspapers, the Liberty Times, said Pelosi was scheduled to visit Taiwan's parliament on Wednesday morning before continuing her Asia trip, which began earlier on Monday in Singapore. Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports.

TAIPEI, June 21 (Reuters) - Taiwan scrambled jets on Tuesday to warn away 29 Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone, including bombers that flew to the south of the island and into the Pacific, in the latest uptick in tensions and largest incursion since late May.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained for the past two years or so of repeated missions by the Chinese air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence identification zone, or ADIZ, close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.

JIJI, Taiwan, June 16 (Reuters) - Taiwan's military showed off its latest domestically produced armoured vehicle on Thursday, the CM-34 Clouded Leopard, at a remote manufacturing site in the mountains of the central part of the island.

Taiwan has been keen to demonstrate its resolve to defend itself should China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own territory, ever attack. Those fears have become more pronounced over the past two years or so as Beijing steps up military activities near Taiwan.

TAIPEI, June 14 (Reuters) - The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway and Taiwan's government supports U.S. warships transiting it, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, rebuffing claims from China to exercise sovereignty over the strategic passage.

The narrow strait has been a frequent source of military tension since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the communists, who established the People's Republic of China.

TAIPEI, June 9 (Reuters) - The United States has approved a possible $120 million sale of parts to help Taiwan maintain its warships, which the island's defence ministry said would help ensure combat readiness in the face of China's "frequent activities" near the island.

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement it had delivered the required certification notifying Congress following State Department approval for the sale, which was requested by Taiwan's de facto embassy in Washington.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A French parliamentary delegation pledged support for Taiwan during a meeting Thursday with the president of the self-governing island that China claims as its own territory with no right to diplomatic recognition.

Senator Joel Guerriau, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and the Armed Forces, told Tsai Ing-wen he would “help Taiwan oppose its oppressors and promote Taiwan’s freedom.”

“I will confront those who oppose Taiwan’s freedom and demonstrate Taiwan’s strength to those who ignore it,” Guerriau said.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China is trying to navigate its biggest coronavirus outbreak without a tool it could have adopted many months ago, the kind of vaccines that have proven to offer the best protection against the worst outcomes from COVID-19.

As early as the spring of 2020 a Chinese pharmaceutical company, Fosun Pharma, reached an agreement to distribute — and eventually manufacture — the mRNA vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech. It still has not been cleared in mainland China, despite being authorized for use by separate authorities in Hong Kong and Macao.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s president has condemned the shooting at a Taiwanese church in California by a man reportedly driven by hatred of the island, while a lawmaker from her ruling party questioned whether Chinese propaganda was a motivating factor behind the violence.

President Tsai Ing-wen’s office issued a statement Tuesday saying she condemned “any form of violence,” extended her condolences to those killed and injured and had asked the island’s chief representative in the U.S. to fly to California to provide assistance.