TAIPEI: Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen will visit three Pacific nations in the next month, the foreign ministry said Friday, as fears grow of China influencing its dwindling list of allies.
It comes after Panama cut official ties with Taiwan in June, choosing instead to form diplomatic relations with China — leaving the island with only 20 nations worldwide that recognize it as a country.
Beijing has been wooing other countries to dump Taiwan, which it sees as part of its territory to be brought back into its fold at some point.
The two sides split after a civil war in 1949, and while Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign nation, it has never formally declared independence.
China has stepped up pressure to isolate Taiwan internationally since Tsai came to power last May, as she has refused to acknowledge its “one China” principle.
The Taiwan leader will visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands between October 28 and November 4 — three of its six Pacific allies.
“Through the president’s first visit to the Pacific since taking office, we hope to show the importance we place on these friendships and our strong determination to strengthen relations,” Francois Wu, deputy foreign affairs minister, told reporters Friday.
Wu declined to give details about where Tsai will transit, saying it is a “sensitive time” as the trip will take place right after a major congress of China’s ruling Communist Party.
Taiwan is typically low-key in announcing its leader’s specific itineraries, fearing China’s use of its power to disrupt.
Tsai’s last state visit was to Central American allies in January, during which she made stopovers in the United States.
Beijing had asked Washington then to bar Tsai from flying through US airspace, but the request was ignored.
Taiwan has accused China of luring its allies with economic incentives and has said it will not engage in “chequebook diplomacy” with Beijing.
Since Tsai came to power, the small African nation of Sao Tome also switched recognition to Beijing last December.
Taiwan’s most powerful remaining ally is The Vatican — its only one in Europe — but there have been signs Beijing is working toward resuming relations with the Holy See.
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Taiwan president to visit Pacific allies amid China pressure
Taiwan president to visit Pacific allies amid China pressure
UK pro-Palestinian activists not guilty of burglary over raid at Israeli firm Elbit
LONDON: Six British pro-Palestinian activists were acquitted of aggravated burglary on Wednesday over a 2024 raid on Israeli defense firm Elbit’s factory, with a jury unable to reach verdicts on other charges including criminal damage.
Prosecutors said the six defendants were members of the now-banned group Palestine Action, which organized a meticulously planned assault on the Elbit Systems UK facility in Bristol, southwest England, causing about 1 million pounds ($1.4 million) of damage.
Prosecutors had told a jury at London’s Woolwich Crown Court at the start of the trial in November that the six were part of a larger group that used a white former prison van to smash into the factory in the early hours of August 6, 2024.
Some of the group used fireworks and smoke grenades to keep security guards at bay, while others caused “extensive damage” inside the factory by smashing equipment with crowbars and hammers and spraying red paint, prosecutor Deanna Heer said.
The defendants said they were simply motivated to destroy weapons to stop what they described as Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza and disavowed violence against people.
Not guilty verdicts and hung jury
The six on trial – Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31 – all denied charges of aggravated burglary, violent disorder and criminal damage.
They were all acquitted of the burglary offense while Rajwani, Rogers and Devlin were found not guilty of violent disorder.
The jury could not reach verdicts on the same charge against Head, Corner and Kamio after more than 36-and-a-half hours of deliberation.
Corner had also denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent for hitting a female police sergeant with a sledgehammer. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on that count.
The defendants hugged in the dock and waved to supporters in the public gallery, who cheered loudly after the judge had left the court.
Britain proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organization last July, almost a year after the Elbit incident took place, making it a crime to be a member.
Judge Jeremy Johnson had told the jurors they must consider the case “on the evidence, not on the basis of what you or anyone else thinks about Palestine Action or the war in Gaza.”
Heer said on Wednesday that prosecutors wanted time to consider whether to seek a retrial on the counts on which the jury could not reach verdicts. ($1 = 0.7294 pounds)
Prosecutors said the six defendants were members of the now-banned group Palestine Action, which organized a meticulously planned assault on the Elbit Systems UK facility in Bristol, southwest England, causing about 1 million pounds ($1.4 million) of damage.
Prosecutors had told a jury at London’s Woolwich Crown Court at the start of the trial in November that the six were part of a larger group that used a white former prison van to smash into the factory in the early hours of August 6, 2024.
Some of the group used fireworks and smoke grenades to keep security guards at bay, while others caused “extensive damage” inside the factory by smashing equipment with crowbars and hammers and spraying red paint, prosecutor Deanna Heer said.
The defendants said they were simply motivated to destroy weapons to stop what they described as Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza and disavowed violence against people.
Not guilty verdicts and hung jury
The six on trial – Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31 – all denied charges of aggravated burglary, violent disorder and criminal damage.
They were all acquitted of the burglary offense while Rajwani, Rogers and Devlin were found not guilty of violent disorder.
The jury could not reach verdicts on the same charge against Head, Corner and Kamio after more than 36-and-a-half hours of deliberation.
Corner had also denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent for hitting a female police sergeant with a sledgehammer. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on that count.
The defendants hugged in the dock and waved to supporters in the public gallery, who cheered loudly after the judge had left the court.
Britain proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organization last July, almost a year after the Elbit incident took place, making it a crime to be a member.
Judge Jeremy Johnson had told the jurors they must consider the case “on the evidence, not on the basis of what you or anyone else thinks about Palestine Action or the war in Gaza.”
Heer said on Wednesday that prosecutors wanted time to consider whether to seek a retrial on the counts on which the jury could not reach verdicts. ($1 = 0.7294 pounds)
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