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Confrontation Over Taiwan

Taiwan Detains Army Officer Suspected of Leaking Information to China

  • Following the detention, Taiwan’s military vowed to boost counter-espionage measures; in the past decade, Taiwan has arrested twenty-one officers of the rank of captain or higher on allegations of espionage (AP; Reuters)

U.S. to Provide Taiwan up to $345 Million in Military Aid

  • For the first time, Washington will use presidential authority to send military assistance to Taiwan as China seeks to assert its authority over the island; the aid package includes weapons, education, and training provided through a channel similar to the one that the United States has used to arm Ukraine, the White House said (WaPo)

Dozens of Chinese Warplanes Near Taiwan Ahead of Anti-Invasion Drills

  • Thirty-seven aircraft and seven naval vessels approached the island as Taiwan prepares for yearly military and civilian readiness exercises next week (AP)

Taiwan’s TSMC Delays Plans for Arizona Plant Over Labor Shortage

  • The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) had planned to begin mass production at a new plant in Arizona late next year but said that a shortage of skilled workers will push back the opening date to 2025 (Nikkei)
  • Meanwhile, China’s ambassador to the United States said he would prioritize trying to prevent Taiwan’s vice president from stopping over in the United States during a trip to Paraguay (Reuters)

Taiwan’s Vice President to Transit United States

  • Taiwan’s Vice President Lai Ching-Te is headed to Paraguay, and the Joe Biden administration said it did not expect any incidents on the stopover; the trip comes as the administration is trying to stabilize diplomatic relations with China (CNN)

Record Number of Chinese Warships Reported Near Taiwan

  • Taiwan reported sighting sixteen ships in a twenty-four-hour period and seventy-three aircraft flying over the median line or into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone in a seventy-two-hour period in an apparent escalation of an intimidation campaign (CNN)

U.S. General: Accelerated Delivery of Weapons to Taiwan Necessary

  • In his remarks, top U.S. Army General Mark Milley specifically mentioned the need for more air defense systems and systems that can attack ships from land (Reuters)
  • The comments came amid a three-day flurry of Chinese military activity near Taiwan (CNN)

Large Groups of Chinese Aircraft, Ships Approach Taiwan for Consecutive Days

  • In the last two days, China has sent nine navy vessels and nearly seventy planes toward Taiwan, with most of the planes crossing the unofficial median line boundary, in a show of force ahead of Taiwan’s military drills (AP)

Paraguay’s President-Elect Begins Trip to Taiwan

  • Santiago Peña is meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and her party’s candidate for the Taiwanese presidency to reinforce diplomatic ties. Paraguay is one of only thirteen countries that officially recognize Taiwan and do not have bilateral relations with China (AP)
  • Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said it would be “absurd” for NATO not to provide a timeline for Ukraine’s membership, and France became the second country to supply Ukraine with missiles (Reuters; Reuters)

Paraguay’s President-Elect to Visit Taiwan

  • President-elect Santiago Pena will meet with his “great friend” President Tsai Ing-wen to reinforce their bilateral relationship amid a campaign by China to flip the island’s international partners (Reuters)

China Sends Aircraft, Ships Near Taiwan During Yellen Visit

  • While U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was in Beijing for talks, thirteen Chinese planes and six vessels entered airspace and waters near Taiwan (AP)

Taiwan Accuses China of Misinformation, Psychological Warfare Campaign

  • Taiwan claimed China has fomented false reports of an escape plan for the Taiwanese president in the event of an invasion and dismissed China’s claims of being capable of sinking the U.S. Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier strike group as intimidation (FT; Reuters)

Taiwan’s Presidential Frontrunner Discusses Plans to Keep Peace with China

  • Should he win the January election, current vice president and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate William Lai, who leads opinion polls, says he will bolster defenses while holding talks without preconditions to maintain the status quo and avert war with China (Reuters)

Taiwan Conducts Live-Fire Drills on Southern Coast

  • The exercises simulated the repelling of an amphibious invasion of the area’s strategically important beaches (Reuters)

China Calls for U.S. Sanctions to Be Lifted to Resume Military Talks

  • The talks sought by Washington have been halted due to “unilateral” U.S. sanctions on Beijing, the spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington said; China previously asked for sanctions to be removed from its defense minister for a Russian arms purchase made in 2018 (Bloomberg)

Taiwan Monitoring Two Russian Warships Off East Coast

  • Taiwan activated missile systems and sent aircraft to observe the ships as they passed through the country’s response zone (Reuters)

Washington Considers Broadening Restrictions on Chip Exports to Beijing

  • The U.S. Department of Commerce could expand the restrictions amid security and defense concerns as soon as early July, the Wall Street Journal reported (WSJ)
  • The head of U.S. technology firm Nvidia has spoken out against previous such controls announced in October, saying they threaten to cause “enormous damage” to the U.S. tech industry (FT)

Western Companies Silo Operations in China Amid Rising U.S.-China Tensions

  • Firms such as Lixil, Salesforce, and Volkswagen are reorganizing their business models in China to protect operations against potential fallout from tensions between Washington and Beijing, the Wall Street Journal reported; venture capital firm Sequoia Capital recently said it would fully divide its U.S. and China businesses by March 2024 (WSJ)

China’s Air Force Flies Close to Taiwan’s Coast

  • Taiwan’s defense ministry said it scrambled fighters and readied air defenses as eight planes crossed the median line and flew close to its contiguous zone, which Taiwan defines as twenty-four miles from its coast (Reuters)

Following Blinken’s China Visit, U.S. Ship Transits Taiwan Strait

  • The U.S. Coast Guard said it was a “routine” effort to demonstrate the United States’ commitment to freedom of navigation in international waters (Reuters)

U.S., Chinese Officials Cite Progress in Blinken’s Two-Day Visit to Beijing

  • The two countries made “progress” toward stabilizing relations, Chinese President Xi Jinping said yesterday in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing; U.S. President Joe Biden echoed Xi’s comments when speaking to reporters Monday (FT)
  • Blinken held discussions with Chinese officials on Taiwan, the war in Ukraine, and economic relations, though China rebuffed a U.S. request to resume military-to-military contacts (AP)

China Decries High-Level UK-Taiwan Meeting

  • Taiwanese Digital Affairs Minister Audrey Tang met with British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat, reportedly to discuss security interests, on a trip to the UK (Reuters)

Beijing Hosts U.S. Secretary of State in Visit Delayed By Tensions

  • Antony Blinken is making his first trip to China as secretary of state over the weekend, where he is due to meet with senior Chinese officials; the visit, originally planned for February, was delayed after U.S. forces shot down a Chinese spy balloon over the United States (Bloomberg; NYT)
  • Blinken is expected to focus the talks on steadying ties and improving communications between the countries (The Guardian)

U.S. Secretary of State Will Make Delayed Trip to Beijing This Weekend

  • Antony Blinken’s visit was originally planned for early February but was delayed after U.S. forces shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon; Blinken will be the first Cabinet official in the Biden administration to travel to China, and talks are set to address the increased risk of miscalculation along China’s periphery (CNN)

Taiwan Foreign Minister Seeks European Support on Prague Visit

  • The trip to the Czech Republic, which does not recognize Taiwan but has recently tried to boost ties, angered Chinese officials, who warned European leaders not to engage with Taiwan (Al Jazeera)