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Taiwan elects William Lai president in historic election

Taiwanese voters have chosen pro-sovereignty candidate William Lai as their president in a historic election, cementing a path that is increasingly divergent from China. The move angered Beijing, which issued a statement after the results insisting that "Taiwan is part of China". While Beijing has called for "peaceful reunification", it has also not ruled out the use of force. It had cast the Taiwan election as a choice between "war and peace". China has ramped up its military presence around the island in recent months, heightening fears of a possible conflict. Beijing's communist government reviles...

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Taiwan elects William Lai president in historic election

Taiwanese voters have chosen pro-sovereignty candidate William Lai as their president in a historic election, cementing a path that is increasingly divergent from China. The move angered Beijing, which issued a statement after the results insisting that "Taiwan is part of C

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Virginia governor, Taiwan president meet in Taipei

Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin met Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei to discuss investment opportunities.

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China simulates hitting 'key targets' on Taiwan

APRIL 9: The drills - which Beijing has called a "stern warning" to the self-governing island - are a response to Taiwan's president visiting the US last week. As the Chinese military simulated an encirclement of the island, the US urged China to show restraint.

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Taiwan president pledges to engage with world

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday pledged Taiwan's resolve to engage with the world to counter "a resurgence of authoritarianism,"

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Taiwan president pledges to engage with world

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday pledged Taiwan's resolve to engage with the world to counter "a resurgence of authoritarianism,"

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China announces new drills as US delegation visits Taiwan

China announced more military drills around Taiwan as the self-governing island’s president met with members of a new U.S. congressional delegation

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What's behind China-Taiwan tensions?

AUG 3: At the heart of the divide is that the Chinese government sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that will, eventually, be part of the country. But many Taiwanese people consider their self-ruled island to be a separate nation - whether or not independence is ever officially declared. What is the history between China and Taiwan? The first known settlers in Taiwan were Austronesian tribal people, who are thought to have come from modern day southern China. The island seems to have first appeared in Chinese records in AD239, when an emperor sent an expeditionary force to explore the area - a fact Beijing uses to back its territorial claim. After a relatively brief spell as a Dutch colony (1624-1661), Taiwan was administered by China's Qing dynasty from 1683 to 1895. From the 17th Century, significant numbers of migrants started arriving from China, often fleeing turmoil or hardship. Most were Hoklo Chinese from Fujian (Fukien) province or Hakka Chinese, largely from Guangdong. Their descendants are now by far the largest demographic groups on the island. In 1895, Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War, and the Qing government had to cede Taiwan to Japan. After World War Two, Japan surrendered and relinquished control of territory it had taken from China. The Republic of China (ROC) - one of the victors in the war - began ruling Taiwan with the consent of its allies, the US and UK. But in the next few years a civil war broke out in China, and the then-leader Chiang Kai-shek's troops were defeated by Mao Zedong's Communist army. Chiang, the remnants of his Kuomintang (KMT) government and their supporters - about 1.5m people - fled to Taiwan in 1949. This group, referred to as Mainland Chinese, dominated Taiwan's politics for many years though they only account for 14% of the population. Chiang established a government in exile in Taiwan which he led for the next 25 years. Chiang's son, Chiang Ching-kuo, allowed more democratisation after coming to power. He faced resistance from local people resentful of authoritarian rule and was under pressure from a growing democracy movement. President Lee Teng-hui, known as Taiwan's "father of democracy", led constitutional changes towards, which eventually made way for the election of the island's first non-KMT president, Chen Shui-bian, in 2000. So who recognises Taiwan? There is disagreement and confusion about what Taiwan is. It has its own constitution, democratically-elected leaders, and about 300,000 active troops in its armed forces. Chiang's ROC government-in-exile at first claimed to represent the whole of China, which it intended to re-occupy. It held China's seat on the United Nations Security Council and was recognised by many Western nations as the only Chinese government. But by the 1970s some countries began to argue that the Taipei government could no longer be considered a genuine representative of the hundreds of millions of people living in mainland China. Then in 1971, the UN switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing and the ROC government was forced out. In 1978, China also began opening up its economy. Recognising opportunities for trade and the need to develop relations, the US formally established diplomatic ties with Beijing in 1979. Since then the number of countries that recognise the ROC government diplomatically has fallen drastically to about 15. Now, despite having all the characteristic of an independent state and a political system that is distinct from China, Taiwan's legal status remains unclear. How are relations between Taiwan and China? Relations started improving in the 1980s as Taiwan relaxed rules on visits to and investment in China. In 1991, it proclaimed that the war with the People's Republic of China was over. China proposed the so-called "one country, two systems" option, which it said would allow Taiwan significant autonomy if it agreed to come under Beijing's control. This system underpinned Hong Kong's return to China in 1997 and the manner in which it was governed until recently, when Beijing has sought to increase its influence. Taiwan rejected the offer and Beijing's insisted that Taiwan's ROC government is illegitimate - but unofficial representatives from China and Taiwan still held limited talks. Then in 2000, Taiwan elected Chen Shui-bian as president, much to Beijing's alarm. Mr Chen and his party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), had openly backed "independence". A year after Mr Chen was re-elected in 2004, China passed a so-called anti-secession law, stating China's right to use "non-peaceful means" against Taiwan if it tried to "secede" from China. Mr Chen was succeeded by the KMT's Ma Ying-jeou in 2008 who tried improving relations through economic agreements. Eight years later, in 2016, Taiwan's current president Tsai Ing-wen, who now leads the independence-leaning DPP, was elected. The rhetoric sharpened further in 2018 as Beijing stepped up pressure on international companies - if they failed to list Taiwan as a part of China on their websites, it threatened to block them from doing business in China. Ms Tsai won a second term in 2020 with a record-breaking 8.2 million votes in what was widely seen as a snub to Beijing. By then Hong Kong had seen months of unrest, with huge protesters against the mainland's growing influence - and many in Taiwan were watching closely. Later that year, China's implemented a national security law in Hong Kong that is considered to be yet another sign of Beijing's assertion. How much of an issue is independence in Taiwan? While political progress has been slow, links between Beijing and Taipei, and the two economies have grown. Between 1991 and the end of May 2021, Taiwanese investment in China totalled $193.5bn (£157.9bn), Taiwanese official figures show. Some Taiwanese people worry their economy is now dependent on China. Others believe that closer business ties make Chinese military action less likely, because of the cost to China's own economy. A controversial trade agreement sparked the "Sunflower Movement" in 2014, where students and activists occupied Taiwan's parliament protesting against what they called China's growing influence over Taiwan. Officially, the ruling DPP still favours formal independence for Taiwan, while the KMT favours eventual unification with China. But most Taiwanese people seem to fall somewhere in between. A June 2022 survey found that only 5.2% of Taiwanese supported independence as soon as possible, while 1.3% were in favour of unification with mainland China at the earliest possibility. The rest supported some form of maintaining the status quo, with the largest group wanting to maintain it indefinitely with no move towards either independence or unification. What does the US have to do with the China-Taiwan divide? Washington's long-standing policy has been one of "strategic ambiguity" to the extent that it would intervene militarily if China were to invade Taiwan. Officially, it sticks to the "One-China" policy, which recognises only one Chinese government - in Beijing - and has formal ties with Beijing rather than Taipei. But it has also pledged to supply Taiwan with defensive weapons and stressed that any attack by China would cause "grave concern". In May 2022, President Joe Biden replied in the affirmative when asked whether the US would defend Taiwan militarily. Soon after, the White House quickly clarified that the US position on Taiwan had not changed and reiterated its commitment to the "One-China" policy. It has similarly contradicted previous statements by Mr Biden on military support for Taiwan. The issue of Taiwan has also strained relations between the US and China. Beijing has condemned any perceived support from Washington for Taipei - and has responded by stepping up incursions of military jets into Taiwan's air defence zone since Mr Biden's election. With inputs from BBC

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Xi and Biden exchange warnings on Taiwan

JULY 29: President Joe Biden told his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, that the US strongly opposed any unilateral moves to change the island's status. But he added that US policy on Taiwan had not changed. Beijing said Mr Xi had told Mr Biden to abide by the one-China principle, warning him that "whoever plays with fire will get burnt". Tensions over the issue have increased ahead of a rumoured plan for US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit Taiwan. The state department says Ms Pelosi has not announced any travel, but China has warned of "serious consequences" if she were to proceed with such a visit. Last week, Mr Biden told reporters "the military thinks it's not a good idea", but his White House has called Chinese rhetoric against any such trip "clearly unhelpful and not necessary". Ms Pelosi, who is next in line to the presidency after the vice-president, would be the highest-ranking US politician to travel to Taiwan since 1997. During Thursday's phone call, Mr Biden and Mr Xi also discussed arranging a possible face-to-face meeting, a senior Biden administration official said, describing the bilateral as "direct" and "honest". When Mr Biden was US vice-president he hosted Mr Xi during a visit to the US by the Chinese leader in 2015, but they have not met in person during Mr Biden's presidency. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that must become a part of the country - and has not ruled out the possible use of force to achieve this. Under the one-China policy, Washington does not recognise Taipei diplomatically. But the US does sell weapons to the democratically self-governed island so that it can defend itself. The White House said that apart from Taiwan, the two leaders discussed a range of other issues, including climate change and health security. The Biden administration has been considering whether to lift Trump-era tariffs on Chinese imports, arguing that such a move could ease soaring US inflation. But the US president did not discuss that issue with Mr Xi on Thursday, the senior US official said. Analysts believe that both Joe Biden and Xi Jinping want to avoid an open conflict, the BBC's State Department Correspondent Barbara Plett Usher reports. But neither has made any attempt to alter their competing narratives, which was illustrated again by their contrasting statements about Thursday's call. In a brief summary, the White House said it was part of efforts to "responsibly manage differences" and work together where "interests align". In a much longer one, Beijing said many of their interests did align. But it blamed the US for the deteriorating relationship, criticising the Biden administration's view of China as a "primary rival" and Washington's "most serious long-term challenge." Difficult to see anything positive Much is being made of the fact that President Xi told President Biden that "those who play with fire will get burned". It is a strong warning to America - but is not unprecedented. China's foreign ministry used exactly the same language when a US congressional delegation visited Taiwan earlier this year. The same phrase was used by China's defence ministry in a warning to Taiwan last year. The fact that it has now been used by President Xi does give it more weight. But it doesn't mean China is preparing military action against Taiwan, if - for example - Nancy Pelosi arrives here next week. It is instead telling America that if it continues down the current path, it will eventually lead to conflict. It's difficult to see anything positive from this phone call in terms of the wider US-China relationship.

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China sends 30 warplanes into Taiwan air defence zone

MAY 31: The incident on Monday marked the biggest incursion since January. It came days after US President Joe Biden warned China against invading Taiwan, and on the same day as a US official visited the island to discuss security with leaders. China has ratcheted up the frequency of its air missions in recent months, claiming they are training drills. Such moves have angered Taiwan and increased tensions in the region. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, which it can take by force if necessary. The latest incident included 22 fighters, as well as electronic warfare, early warning and antisubmarine aircraft, Taiwan's defence ministry said. The aircraft flew in an area to the northeast of the Pratas Islands that is part of the Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ), according to a map the ministry provided. But the planes did not cross over into Taiwan's airspace itself, which would have been regarded as an act of hostility. An ADIZ is an area outside of a country's territory and national airspace but where foreign aircraft are still identified, monitored, and controlled in the interest of national security. It is self-declared and technically remains international airspace. Taiwan has been reporting for more than a year that Chinese aircraft have been flying into its ADIZ, calling it "grey zone" warfare aimed at testing their military response and wearing them out. Analysts have previously said the incursions were a warning against Taiwan's government from moving towards a formal declaration of independence. Beijing has said in the past that the exercises were geared to protect its sovereignty. Mr Biden had referenced the air incursions during his visit to Asia that concluded last week - his first visit to the region as president. He said China was "already flirting with danger right now by flying so close" to Taiwan, and issued his strongest warning to China yet, saying the US would be willing to respond military if Beijing were to invade the island. His words appeared to mark a shift from the US' longstanding policy of "strategic ambiguity" on Taiwan, which allowed the US to remain deliberately vague about its response in such a situation. China's military said last week it had recently conducted an exercise around Taiwan as a "solemn warning" against its "collusion" with the United States. Monday's incursion took place as US senator Tammy Duckworth arrived in Taipei on an unannounced visit to discuss matters of regional security and trade with Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen.

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Taiwan wants ‘status quo’, not China’s path, president says

Taiwan’s president on Sunday called for the maintenance of the political status quo in a forthright speech that acknowledged rising pressure from China

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