1)
The foreign ministry expressed concern at Sao Tome President Manuel Pinto da Costa’s planned trip to Mainland China.
Sao Tome and Principe is one of Taiwan’s three diplomatic allies in Africa. The visit is sensitive because China has convinced a number of allies to sever relations with Taiwan over the past two decades.
The foreign ministry said Friday that it has instructed Taiwan’s embassy in Sao Tome and Principe to express Taiwan’s displeasure at Pinto da Costa’s visit to China. The ministry will also meet with Sao Tome and Principe’s ambassador to Taiwan and ask him to relay Taiwan’s concern about the visit.
President Pinto da Costa has said that his trip to China will be an unofficial, private visit aimed to attract investment for a planned deep water port in Sao Tome and Principe. Pinto da Costa sent a letter to President Ma Ying-jeou on Wednesday saying that he still plans to visit Taiwan in his official capacity as president either at the end of 2014 or early in 2015.
2)
The ruling Kuomintang (KMT) decided on Friday to expel former Taoyuan Deputy Commissioner Yeh Shih-wen. Yeh is currently being detained over alleged involvement in a corruption case.
The KMT’s central disciplinary committee reached a unanimous decision. KMT spokesperson Chen I-hsin said that the party dealt with the matter in the shortest time possible in order to reaffirm its commitment to clean government.
Yeh was detained on corruption charges on May 31. He allegedly took bribes from a real estate developer to help it win a tender for the construction of a low-cost housing project in Taoyuan.On the 25th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre on Wednesday, President Ma Ying-jeou urged Beijing to embrace democracy and be kind to political dissidents.
3)
The president said China will better endear itself to the Taiwanese people by being tolerant of different opinions than by yielding economic benefits through trade deals with Taiwan. Ma said that by embracing democracy, China will not only gain respect from the international community but also narrow the gap in thinking between people on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.