July 23, British band The 1975 said on Sunday they have cancelled shows in Taiwan and Muslim-majority Indonesia, a day after Malaysia banned them from performing there after their frontman kissed a bandmate on stage and criticised the country's anti-LGBT laws.

Beijing [China], April 17: China "hopes and believes" Germany will support its "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan, said Wang Yi, China's top diplomat, in a statement shared by the Chinese foreign ministry on Saturday, reported Fox News.

BERLIN, April 13: Germany on Wednesday accused China of inflaming tensions with its recent military drills around Taiwan, ahead of a visit by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to Beijing. "We have the impression that measures such as threatening military gestures... increase the risk of unintended military clashes," foreign ministry spokeswoman Andrea Sasse said.

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Nov 14: Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden met on Monday for long-awaited talks that come as relations between their countries are at their lowest in decades, marred by disagreements over a host of issues from Taiwan to trade.

BEIJING, Sept 24: The United States is sending "very wrong, dangerous signals" on Taiwan, and the more rampant Taiwan independence activities are the less likely a peaceful settlement will be, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

TAIPEI/WASHINGTON, August 15: A delegation of U.S. lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for a two-day trip during which they will meet President Tsai Ing-wen, the second high-level group to visit while there are military tensions between the self-ruled island and China.

TAIPEI, Aug 7: Taiwan officials said Chinese aircraft and warships rehearsed an attack on the island on Saturday, part of Beijing's retaliation for a visit there by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi that has also included a halt in talks with the United States on issues including defence and climate change.

TAIPEI, August 6: China announced on Friday it was halting dialogue with the United States in a number of areas, including between theater-level military commanders and on climate change, in a furore over U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.

KATHMANDU, August 5: Amid escalating tension between China and US over Taiwan issue, Nepal has called for peace and stability in the region.

TAIPEI, Aug 5: China's firing of missiles during military drills around Taiwan was an unjustified escalation, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, as Beijing said it would impose sanctions on House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi for visiting the island.

SEOUL, Aug 5: Some airlines have cancelled flights to Taipei and rerouted others using nearby airspace that has been closed to civilian traffic during Chinese military exercises sparked by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.

TAIPEI, Aug 4: China launched unprecedented live-fire military drills in six areas that ring Taiwan on Thursday, a day after a visit by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the self-ruled island that Beijing regards as its sovereign territory.

KATHMANDU, Aug 3: Embassy of China in Nepal has appreciated Nepal's long-standing commitment to the one-China principle and resolutely opposing independence of Taiwan.

TAIPEI, Aug 2: U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi was expected to arrive in Taipei later on Tuesday, people briefed on the matter said, as several Chinese warplanes flew close to the median line dividing the Taiwan Strait, a source told Reuters.

TAIPEI, July 25: Roads emptied and people were ordered to stay indoors in parts of Taiwan, including its capital Taipei, on Monday for an air-raid exercise as the island steps up preparations in the event of a Chinese attack.

BEIJING, July 20: China's government on Tuesday warned that it would take "forceful measures" if U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, after the Financial Times said she would go to the Chinese-claimed island next month.

BEIJING, March 5: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged on Saturday to advance peaceful growth in relations with Taiwan and "reunification", and said his government firmly opposes any separatist activities or foreign interference, drawing a firm rebuke from Taipei.

TAIPEI, Feb 8: The United States has approved a possible USD 100 million sales of equipment and services to Taiwan to "sustain, maintain, and improve" the Patriot missile defense system used by the self-governing island claimed by China.

Taiwan’s annual Golden Horse Awards kicked off Saturday with a Hong Kong drama receiving the most nominations for the Asian equivalent of the Academy Awards. The Golden Horse Awards, which began in 1962, is considered one of the most prestigious awards for Chinese-language films.

BALTIMORE, Oct 22: The United States would come to Taiwan's defense and has a commitment to defend the island China claims as its own territory, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday, comments that appeared to be a break with official policy.

TAIPEI, Oct 10: Taiwan will keep bolstering its defences to ensure nobody can force the island to accept the path China has laid down that offers neither freedom nor democracy, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Sunday, in a strong riposte to Beijing.

TAIPEI, April 5: The owner of a construction truck that caused Taiwan’s worst rail accident in decades, killing 48 people, apologized in tears while being led away from his home by police on Sunday. The unmanned truck’s emergency brake was not properly engaged, according to the government’s disaster relief center.

HUALIEN COUNTY, Taiwan, April 3: A train barreled into an unmanned truck that had rolled onto the track Friday in Taiwan, leaving at least 51 people dead and dozens injured in the island’s deadliest rail disaster. Many passengers were crushed, while some survivors were forced to climb out of windows and walk along the train’s roof to safety.

HUALIEN, TAIWAN, April 2:  A Taiwan express train with almost 500 aboard derailed in a tunnel on Friday, killing at least 48 passengers and injuring 66 in the island’s worst rail disaster in almost four decades.

TAIPEI, April 1: At least 41 people were killed and more than 60 injured after a Taiwanese train carrying almost 500 passengers derailed in a tunnel on Friday when it apparently hit a truck that slid off a road leading to a nearby construction site.

TAIPEI, April 2: At least 36 people were killed and 72 injured when a Taiwan train derailed in a tunnel on Friday after apparently hitting a truck in the island’s worst rail disaster in at least four decades.

TAIPEI, March 22: Health care workers received the first shots in Taiwan’s COVID-19 vaccination drive Monday, beginning a campaign that won’t use supplies from China amid uneven distribution of the vaccines globally.

TAIPEI, Sept 18: Taiwan’s presidential office urged China on Friday to exercise restraint, saying its recent aggressive behaviour in the Taiwan Strait and surrounding region did not help its international image.

BEIJING/TAIPEI, Sept 18: China began combat drills near the Taiwan Strait on Friday, the same day a senior U.S. official began high-level meetings in Taipei, as tensions rose and Beijing denounced tightening ties between Chinese-claimed Taiwan and the United States.

TAIPEI, March 24: Taiwan accused the World Heath Organization of ignoring its questions at the start of the coronavirus outbreak, part of what it has long described as a pattern that puts it at risk because of Chinese pressure to exclude it from international bodies.

TAIPEI, Feb 18: Taiwan urged the World Health Organization on Tuesday not to be “kidnapped” by China, as more countries put travel curbs on its citizens because the health agency groups the island’s coronavirus cases with China in the battle on the outbreak.

TAIPEI, Feb 12: Three U.S. Air Force planes, including two B-52 bombers, flew near Taiwan on Wednesday, the island’s defense ministry said, after Taiwan’s air force scrambled earlier in the week to intercept Chinese jets.

TAIPEI, Feb 12: Taiwan’s presence at a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting this week on the new coronavirus was the result of direct talks between the island and the body, and did not require China’s permission, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

TAIPEI, Feb 6: China is providing the World Health Organization (WHO) with wrong information about the number of coronavirus cases in Taiwan, the island’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, after the WHO published incorrect case numbers earlier this week.

TAIPEI, Jan 2: Taiwan’s top military official was among eight people killed on Thursday, after a helicopter carrying them to visit soldiers crashed in a mountainous area near the capital Taipei, the defence ministry said.

TAIPEI, TAIWAN, JAN 2: Taiwan’s top military official was killed in an air force helicopter crash Thursday morning that killed seven other people, the defense ministry said. Five people survived the crash in mountains outside the capital.

TAIPEI, Jan 2:Taiwan’s top military official was among three people missing on Thursday after a helicopter made an emergency landing in a mountainous northern area near the capital Taipei, the defense ministry said.

BEIJING, July 31: China will stop issuing individual travel permits for Taiwan to people in 47 mainland cities from Aug.

BEIJING, July 16: China’s government and Chinese companies will cut business ties with U.S. firms selling arms to Taiwan, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday, declining to give details of the sanctions in a move likely to worsen already poor ties with Washington.

BEIJING, July 14: China’s military recently carried out air and naval drills along its southeast coast, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday, following the latest arms sales from the United States to self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as a renegade province.

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TAIPEI, July 13: Taiwan has defended the proposed purchase of $2.2 billion in arms from the U.S., following a Chinese announcement that it would sanction any American companies involved in the deal.

WASHINGTON, July 9: The U.S. State Department has approved the possible sale to Taiwan of M1A2T Abrams tanks, Stinger missiles and related equipment at an estimated value of $2.2 billion, the Pentagon said on Monday, despite Chinese criticism of the deal.

TAIPEI, May 26: More than 1,000 people attended a mass wedding banquet in Taiwan’s capital to celebrate the marriage of same-sex couples after a landmark decision legalizing the unions.

TAIPEI, May 17: Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage on Friday, as thousands of demonstrators outside parliament cheered and waved rainbow flags, despite deep divisions over marriage equality.

Your daily dose of missed important news of the day.

May 17: Amid deep divisions, Taiwan's parliament has begun debating measures to legalise same-sex marriage before a landmark vote that could make the self-ruled island the first in Asia to adopt such legislation.

KATHMANDU, April 19: A high-level interaction has been held between a trade delegation led by Taiwan External Trade Development Council and Nepali businesspersons here on exploring avenues for investment and trade expansion.

TAIPEI, April 18: A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan’s coastal city of Hualien on Thursday, shaking buildings and temporarily halting subway services in the capital Taipei, but there were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties.

Looming Taiwan crisis

February 20, 2019 00:30 am

Crisis over Taiwan could wreck China’s relations with the US and many of its neighbors and rock an already shaky Chinese economy