Chronologies
China - Taiwan
Chronology from Sep 2023 to Dec 2023
: China’s foreign ministry spokesperson announces Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law-based countermeasures against a US intelligence data company Kharon and two researchers for providing “so-called evidence for America’s illegal sanctions related to Xinjiang,” during her regular press conference. Dec. 29, 2023: China opens the door to a conversation among defense chiefs by appointing a non-US sanctioned former Navy commander, Adm. Dong Jun, as its new defense minister, two months after his predecessor Gen. Li Shangfu was officially sacked.
: Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) extends COVID-related exclusions on the Section 301 tariffs on certain Chinese imports through May 31, 2024 to “enable the[ir] orderly review,” and effectively thereby pushing out further the date of conclusion of its ongoing four-year review of the Section 301 tariffs that began in May 2022.
: MND estimates that as a result of its high alert around Jan. 13, around 5,000 military officials and soldiers will not be able to vote and that the number is similar to that in the 2020 presidential election.
: Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense promises the military will be on high alert around the Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections to respond to any potential PLA activity.
: US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns tells a Brookings Institution event that the United States has warned China not to interfere in Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 13, urging “responsible behavior on all sides.”
: China’s TAO confirms that China-based Taiwanese writer Liao Meng-yen is being investigated. Liao’s family has been unable to contact him for over a year, and recent online posts have claimed he has been imprisoned. The TAO did not confirm online posts claiming that Liao has already been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.
: Taiwan People’s Party presidential candidate Ko Wen-je emphasizes to CTS TV that he is “deep green” in his heart, and he “has a chance” to make Taiwan a normal country. Asked whether he will also continue Tsai’s policy on national defense and whether Taiwan should develop its self-defense capabilities, Ko replies “Yes.”
: G7 nations reaffirm at the end of their summit the “importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” to “security and prosperity in the international community.”
: AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk tells an audience at Taiwan National University that supporting Taiwan is one of the strongest consensuses in the United States. “I cannot think of a single other policy in Washington that is as strongly supported by both parties, both the administration and the Congress, and is popular with the American people.”
: Google’s threat analysis division, which monitors government-sponsored hacking campaigns, warns it has observed a “massive increase” in Chinese cyberattacks on Taiwan in the last six months or so.
: “Taiwan and the True Sources of Deterrence,” an article written by Bonnie Glaser, Jessica Weiss, and Thomas Christensen is published by Foreign Affairs, and provokes a debate in Taiwan over how and whether Taiwan should offer assurances to China as part of effective deterrence.
: Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis says Beijing has dropped most of its “illegal” trade measures following a diplomatic spat. In 2021, the Lithuanian government permitted the opening of a “Taiwan Trade Office” in Vilnius. Beijing’s economic retaliation against Lithuania provoked a rebuke by the EU and a WTO challenge.
: Taiwan High Prosecutors Office indicts 10 people, including several active-duty military personnel, for allegedly spying for China.
: Nationalist Party Presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih tells supporters: “Our whole generation will surely lose everything we have fought for during our lifetime [if Lai wins the presidency].”
: Japanese Prime Minister Kishida stresses the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait during a meeting with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
: After meeting President Xi, Biden tells the media: “I reiterate what I’ve said since I’ve become president and what every previous president of late has said—that we—we maintain an agreement that there is a one-China policy and that—and I’m not going to change that. That’s not going to change. And so, that’s about the extent to which we discussed it.”
: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says that President Xi Jinping told President Biden that the Taiwan question remains the most important and most sensitive issue in China-US relations. Wang says that China urges the US to honor the one-China principle, oppose “Taiwan independence,” stop arming Taiwan, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, and support China’s peaceful reunification.
: Morris Chang, founder of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Taiwan’s envoy to the Asia Pacific Economic Forum, says President Tsai Ing-wen asked him to tell APEC that (i) Taiwan is committed to the peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region; (ii) Taiwan wants to work with its partners on energy transition for climate change mitigation; (iii) Taiwan wants to create partnerships to build a supply chain that is more resilient and flexible; and (iv) Taiwan is working with its partners to reduce the digital divide in the region.
: Taiwan and the United Kingdom sign a roadmap, the Enhanced Trade Partnership, to bolster trade and investment ties.
: Lai Ching-te tells a diplomatic reception he will do his best to maintain the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.
: China’s defense ministry warns that Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party authorities are pushing the island towards a “dangerous situation of war and peril.”
: Taiwan and Canada conclude negotiations on a bilateral investment agreement.
: China announces tax and real estate investigations in Foxconn. The Taiwan Affairs Office says that Taiwanese businesses with investments in China should clearly understand the importance of not supporting “stubborn advocates of Taiwan independence.”
: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy leads a business delegation to Taiwan and meets President Tsai.
: Ma Ying-jeou tells an audience at New York University that: “The US should play the role of peacemaker by encouraging the two sides to talk.”
: Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance reports Taiwan exported $112.01 billion to China and Hong Kong in the first nine months of the year, 35.3% of Taiwan’s total exports, marking a new low over the past 20 years. By contrast, the proportion of exports to the United States rose to 16.6%, a record over the past 20 years.
: China’s Ministry of Commerce announces that it is extending its “trade barrier” investigation into Taipei’s alleged trade restrictions toward China to Jan. 12, 2024, one day before Taiwan’s 2024 presidential and legislative elections.
: Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen tells the Legislative Yuan that China intends to influence Taiwan’s elections by publicizing manipulated poll data through polling organizations and by packaging disinformation.
: Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou says he will boycott official celebrations for the island’s national day this year, he announces, after accusing the government of proclaiming it “Taiwan” rather than “Republic of China” national day and turning it into an overt attempt at pushing independence ahead of an election.
: China’s TAO says its recent series of drills near Taiwan is aimed at combating the “arrogance” of separatist forces, but Lai Ching-te, Taiwan’s vice president and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate to be Taiwan’s next president, says China is trying to “annex” the island.
: Members of the Australian Parliament meet with Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei.
: Taiwan launches its first indigenous submarine, named “Hai Kun” (Narwhal).
: Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, and Mira Resnick, deputy assistant secretary of state for regional security, brief the Armed Services Committee of the US House of Representatives on US weapons transfers to Taiwan.
: Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs meets President Tsai Ing-wen and Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua in Taipei.
: Laurie Locascio, under secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and director of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) within the US Commerce Department, leads a delegation to Taiwan of 13 US cybersecurity companies.
: Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense says it detected a “recent new high” of 103 People’s Liberation Army aircraft, including more than 30 fighter jets, and nine vessels in the areas surrounding the island in the 24 hours up to September 18.
: China announces sanctions on Northrop Grumman and a Lockheed Martin subsidiary for supplying arms to Taiwan.
: Hou Yu-ih, mayor of New Taipei City and Nationalist Party candidate for president of the Republic of China, departs for the trip to the US that has become obligatory for all ROC candidates for president.
: China’s Taiwan Affairs Office announces that China’s Ministry of Commerce would launch an investigation into preferential tariffs granted to Taiwanese goods under the cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement signed by KMT President Ma Ying-jeou in 2010.
: Wall Street Journal reports that the US plans to redirect approximately $55 million in foreign military financing allocated for Egypt to Taiwan.
: China introduces 21 measures to encourage Taiwan investment in Fujian Province, including incentives for Taiwanese to buy houses.
: Taiwan Ministry of National Defense issues its 2023 National Defense Report. One focus of the report was the lessons to be learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
: Taiwan’s Central Election Commission announces legislation to ban foreigners or people from China, Hong Kong, or Macau from funding election advertisements in Taiwan.
: Taiwan government announces that investments approved for the 18 countries under the New Southbound Policy increased to $5.3 billion in 2022, up 90% from US$2.8 billion in 2019.
: National Day Preparation Committee unveils the logo for this year’s Double Ten National Day celebrations, dubbing it “Taiwan National Day.”