Chronologies
China - Taiwan
Chronology from Jan 2023 to May 2023
: Beijing announces that Taiwanese activist Yang Chih-yuan, who was detained in mainland China eight months earlier, will face “secession” charges. This would be the first time someone from Taiwan will face such charges on the mainland.
: Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei arrives in Taiwan for a four-day visit.
: Friends report that Fucha, editor-in-chief of Taiwan-based publisher Gūsa, has been arrested in Shanghai.
: Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party nominates Vice President William Lai Ching-te as its presidential candidate in the 2024 election.
: Taiwan’s Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics reports the number of Taiwanese working in China dropped by nearly two-thirds over the past decade.
: China announces it has concluded three days of military activities around Taiwan in retaliation for Tsai’s visit to the US and her meeting with Speaker McCarthy. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reports 232 PLA aircraft and 12 ships participated. A record-breaking 91 Chinese military aircraft and 12 naval ships are detected around Taiwan on April 10.
: Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and and former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je embarks on a three-week tour of the US in advance of his anticipated 2024 run for Taiwan president.
: During her transit of Los Angeles, President Tsai meets with Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy and 19 members of Congress. During a joint press conference with Tsai, McCarthy stresses that US support for Taiwan “is a matter of profound importance to the free world.”
: Taiwan President Tsai arrives in New York on the first leg of her transit of the US enroute to Guatemala and Belize. Tsai meets with Senators Dan Sullivan, Joni Ernst, and Mark Kelly, as well as Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
: Former President Ma Ying-jeou arrives in China leading a delegation of Taiwan students.
: Founder and former CEO of Foxconn Terry Gou arrives in the US for a visit after signaling his intention to seek the KMT nomination for president of Taiwan.
: Germany’s education minister visits Taiwan, the first visit to the island by a German Cabinet official in a quarter century.
: Honduras President Xiomara Castro announces the country will switch its diplomatic relations from the Republic of China to the People’s Republic of China.
: Director of North American Affairs at Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Douglas Hsu You-tien, says that China is spreading misinformation to denigrate US support for Taiwan.
: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, in his final work report to the National People’s Congress, says that Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait “are one family bound by blood.”
: AIT announces the retirement of James Moriarty as chairman and the appointment of Laura Rosenberger as new chair. Rosenberger was previously special assistant to the President and senior director for China and Taiwan on the National Security Council (NSC).
: A Washington Post article highlights Taiwan’s shortage of air force pilots and Taiwan’s broader military personnel crisis.
: American Institute in Taiwan publishes a letter from the US Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and State saying that they “encourage cooperation with Taiwan and stand ready to help state and local governments navigate questions of nomenclature and protocol.”
: Longtime Taiwan Independence advocate Koo Kwang-ming dies. President Tsai expresses gratitude for his support for Taiwan’s democratic values and its localization movement.
: Chinese authorities capture and return two Taiwanese criminal suspects to Taiwan. The two were accused of a shooting in Tainan in November.
: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Chase arrives in Taiwan. He is the most senior Defense Department visitor to Taiwan since 2019.
: China’s Ministry of Commerce sanctions Lockheed Martin and Raytheon for arms sales to Taiwan, blocking visits by executives and investments and imposing fines.
: Paraguay President Mario Abdo Benítez arrives in Taiwan for a five-day state visit.
: Unnamed senior Taiwan official says Chinese military balloons have entered Taiwan airspace very frequently over the past few years.
: Taiwan and China exchange accusations over Taiwan’s refusal to issue visas to a delegation of 12 mainland officials seeking to attend the funeral of Buddhist monk and founder of the Fo Guang Shan organization Hsing Yun.
: TAO Director Song Tao tells visiting KMT Vice Chair Hsia that the mainland is willing to enhance exchanges and build mutual trust and work with the KMT to promote relations between the two parties and two sides of the Taiwan Strait, on the basis of the common political foundation of upholding the 1992 Consensus and opposing “Taiwan independence.”
: KMT Vice Chair Andrew Hsia leads a delegation to China, saying his purpose is to promote the interests of Taiwanese working, studying, or living in China.
: The Taiwan American Chamber of Commerce releases its annual survey of American companies in Taiwan on the economic outlook. 33% of surveyed companies say that their operations had been “significantly disrupted” by cross-Strait tension while 47% have revised or plan to revise business continuity plans in Taiwan to address new geopolitical conditions.
: Kinmen County Legislators urge that the island be made into a demilitarized zone.
: US and Japanese representatives to the annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA) call for the participation of Taiwan in the work of the World Health Organization (WHO).
: Tsai Ing-wen and the president-elect of Czechia, Petr Pavel, speak by telephone for 15 minutes. Beijing delivers a diplomatic demarche to Prague.
: President Tsai announces that former Vice President Chen Chien-jen will replace Premier Su Tseng-chang.
: Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan passes a central government budget for fiscal 2023. It includes US$19.1 billion defense spending.
: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken states that “China [has made] a decision that it was no longer comfortable with the status quo.”
: Vice President William Lai Ching-te is elected chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) after President Tsai resigned to accept responsibility for the DPP’s poor showing in November’s nine-in-one local elections.
: United States Trade Representative (USTR) and Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) open four-day in-person negotiating round for the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade in Taipei.
: Papua New Guinea Foreign Affairs Minister Justin Tkatchenk announces that PNG will close its trade office in Taiwan because of financial difficulties.
: Kaohsiung Customs commissions two new radiation portal monitors provided by the US.
: First ferry crosses from Kinmen to Xiamen since the mini-three links were suspended by COVID three years earlier.
: Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) says that its capacity will be sufficient to train conscripts once mandatory military service in Taiwan is extended to one year in 2024.
: USS Chung-Hoon conducts first US Navy transit of 2023 through the Taiwan Strait.
: Former Danish Prime Minister and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen arrives in Taiwan for a three-day visit. He says NATO should consider holding joint exercises with Taiwan on “European soil.”