tirsdag 11. august 2020

'The next Hong Kong': Taiwan's foreign minister sounds warning over China

China is trying to turn Taiwan into another Hong Kong, the island’s foreign minister warned on Tuesday as he met with a senior US official making a historic diplomatic trip. A crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong has gathered pace since China imposed a sweeping security law on the financial hub in June, with opposition politicians disqualified and activists arrested.

The security clampdown has caused alarm in Taiwan, a self-ruled island of 23 million people that Beijing claims as its own territory and has vowed to one day seize, by force if necessary. During a rare meeting with US health secretary Alex Azar in Taipei on Tuesday, foreign minister Joseph Wu said Taiwan lived under the constant threat of having its freedoms taken away by China.