US President Joe Biden on Friday agreed to provide USD 571.3 million in defence support for Taiwan, the White House said, while the State Department approved the potential sale to the island of USD 265 million worth of military equipment. The US is bound by law to provide Chinese-claimed Taiwan with the means to defend…
Lai, who returned on Friday from a weeklong visit to three of Taipei’s Pacific allies, maintained a relatively low profile during his layovers in the US territories, meeting only local leaders and politicians. Lai was greeted on his arrival in Honolulu last Saturday by Ingrid Larson, managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT),…
China on Thursday defended its rejection of a defence chiefs’ meeting with the United States, blaming it on Washington’s support for Taipei. Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun on Wednesday reportedly declined to meet his US counterpart Lloyd Austin on the margins of a regional security meeting in Laos. Austin said the decision was “unfortunate ……
Washington has vowed to impose fresh visa restrictions on multiple Hong Kong officials responsible for implementation of the national security law in response to the “harsh sentences” a court handed to 45 opposition activists convicted for subversion. The retaliation from the United States on Tuesday came after the 45 were jailed for four to 10…
The US State Department has dismissed claims suggesting that Washington expelled Indian diplomats amidst the ongoing strain between India and Canada. During a Tuesday press briefing, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated he had no knowledge of any such expulsion. “I am not familiar with this report that we expelled Indian diplomats…I’m not aware of…
Beijing and Washington are making progress toward renewing the 45-year-old US-China Science and Technology Agreement, according to sources familiar with the negotiations, but each side may be considering a different timeline for announcing the deal. A source in the US government said the administration of President Joe Biden would like to hold off the renewal…
A former Hong Kong justice minister has urged foreign critics of the city’s national security trials to study the relevant court judgments before making conclusions, expressing her confidence in the local judicial system’s independence. Elsie Leung Oi-sie, who also previously served as a deputy director of the Basic Law Committee, slammed critics of the nation’s…