标签： Asia

In a series of official statements released on Wednesday, Chinese authorities issued high praise for the international community’s unwavering commitment to the one-China principle, reaffirming that this global consensus aligns fully with international law and the foundational norms that govern cross-border relations.

The comments followed the abrupt cancellation of a planned trip to southern Africa by Lai Ching-te, the self-styled leader of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Lai had been scheduled to visit Eswatini, the only African country that maintains unofficial diplomatic relations with Taiwan, from April 23 to 27. The trip fell apart after three Indian Ocean island nations — Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar — withdrew prior approval for Lai’s aircraft to fly through their airspace.

Both the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office used their regular weekly press briefings to underscore the breadth of global support for the one-China principle, pushing back against separatist claims for “Taiwan independence” and false accusations from DPP authorities.

Speaking at the briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun noted that of the 54 recognized nations on the African continent, 53 have established formal diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in adherence to the one-China principle. These nations, alongside the African Union, formally adopted the Beijing Declaration during the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit, a document that codifies their shared commitment to the principle, he added.

Guo restated the core tenets of the one-China principle widely recognized by the international community: there exists only one sovereign China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the entire Chinese nation. He emphasized that African nations have repeatedly reaffirmed this stance and expressed firm backing for all efforts by the Chinese government to advance peaceful national reunification.

“It is an undeniable fact that there is no so-called ‘president of the Republic of China’ recognized by the international community today,” Guo said. “Any individual who claims this false title is acting in opposition to the course of history, and will only end in humiliation.”

Guo stressed that China’s full national reunification is an irreversible historical trend, and the global endorsement of the one-China principle reflects the overwhelming arc of history and the will of the global public. “No force can block the eventual reunification of China,” he said. “Separatist schemes for ‘Taiwan independence’ are completely futile and doomed to failure.”

Zhang Han, spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, echoed these remarks, noting that the cancellation of Lai’s trip once again proves that the one-China principle is the overwhelming prevailing trend in global affairs, represents the greater good of the international order, and aligns with the shared will of the world’s people.

Zhang addressed false claims circulated by DPP authorities that the Chinese mainland had exerted “intense pressure” on the African nations that revoked Lai’s overflight permits. She dismissed these allegations as slander, self-deception and malicious defamation, noting the claims are little more than a desperate attempt to distract from the growing isolation of “Taiwan independence” separatists in the international arena.

During a high-level diplomatic visit to Hanoi this week, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna held substantive talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung, outlining a bold agenda to expand bilateral collaboration across trade, digital technology and governance transformation. Diplomatic ties between the small Baltic EU member and the Southeast Asian economic heavyweight have warmed considerably in recent years, with a landmark bilateral digital cooperation agreement already set to take effect in 2025. Though Estonia contributes only 0.2% of the entire European Union’s total gross domestic product, the nation has carved out a global reputation as a pioneering leader in digital governance and e-government innovation, expertise it is eager to share with Vietnam as Hanoi pursues sweeping domestic reforms to reach high-income economy status by 2045. Tsahkna emphasized that partnering to digitize Vietnam’s public services would deliver tangible benefits: cutting through bureaucratic red tape, boosting government transparency, and reducing operational costs for both citizens and businesses. “It becomes far faster for people to access public sector services when systems are fully digitized,” Tsahkna told reporters from the Associated Press on the sidelines of the Hanoi meetings. He added that Vietnamese officials had already tabled a proposal for a new bilateral education cooperation agreement, opening another avenue for people-to-people ties. According to Vietnamese state media, Prime Minister Hung made two key requests of Estonia during the talks: that the Baltic nation push the European Union to formally ratify the stalled EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement, and that it back Hanoi’s efforts to have the European Commission’s “yellow card” warning lifted. The trade restriction currently blocks many Vietnamese seafood imports over unsubstantiated claims of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Beyond economic and digital cooperation, Tsahkna framed the bilateral partnership as mutually beneficial in broader strategic terms: Estonia can act as a convenient, low-barrier gateway for Vietnamese companies seeking access to the 27-nation EU single market, while Vietnam gives Estonia a strategic foothold and access to one of the fastest-growing consumer markets in the Southeast Asian region. “For us, Vietnam is one of the priority countries in the entire Indo-Pacific region,” Tsahkna said. The visit also gave Estonian officials a platform to share Europe’s perspective on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, where Estonia views Russian aggression as an “existential threat” to European security. This outreach comes as Vietnam has maintained a long-standing diplomatic relationship with Moscow stretching back to 1950, and has stuck to a carefully calibrated neutral stance on the war, calling for peaceful negotiations while declining to issue direct public criticism of Russia. Tsahkna acknowledged that Estonia’s renewed diplomatic focus on Vietnam and broader Southeast Asia is shaped by both shifting geopolitical pressures and new economic opportunities. In particular, he noted that former U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated criticism of European defense spending and persistent transatlantic tariff tensions have pushed the EU to diversify its diplomatic and economic partnerships beyond traditional allies, turning greater attention to fast-growing emerging markets across the Indo-Pacific.

BANGKOK – As the latest Middle East conflict roils global energy markets and upends regional security, China’s emergence as an informal behind-the-scenes mediator has captured international attention, marking a key milestone in Beijing’s push to frame itself as a responsible global power at a moment when U.S. policy has frayed long-standing American alliances.

Over the past decade, China has deliberately expanded its diplomatic footprint across the globe, a sharp departure from its historic approach of avoiding deep involvement in conflicts far from its borders. Today, Beijing has positioned itself as a major diplomatic player, stepping in to facilitate de-escalation in disputes stretching from the Southeast Asian border to Eastern Europe. In the ongoing Iran conflict, while Beijing has not claimed the title of official mediator, both Washington and Tehran have acknowledged its meaningful contributions to cooling hostilities.

Experts note that China’s mediation strategy across multiple conflicts follows a consistent pattern, with mixed results in shaping final negotiation outcomes. However, its current engagement in the Iran war comes at a uniquely opportune moment: the unilateral, alliance-straining policies of the Donald Trump administration have left traditional U.S. partners increasingly wary of American leadership, opening space for China to step into the diplomatic gap.

In the Iran conflict specifically, China’s deep economic and political ties to Tehran grant it a rare level of influence, a particularly critical advantage at a time when fighting has disrupted global energy supplies, most acutely impacting Asian markets. Former President Trump has publicly stated he believes China pushed Iran to enter ceasefire negotiations, a step that led to the extended fragile truce currently in place. Unnamed diplomatic sources told the Associated Press that Beijing, which is the largest buyer of Iranian oil under international sanctions, used its economic leverage to encourage Iranian negotiators to attend the landmark face-to-face talks held in Pakistan earlier this month.

Yaqi Li, a researcher at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, explained that Beijing has not publicly confirmed this account, largely because it seeks to avoid being framed as a participant in a U.S.-led security architecture. Still, the move has been widely viewed as a pivotal moment for China, which has openly criticized the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran.

Since the conflict began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on February 28, senior Chinese diplomats have maintained intense outreach to all regional parties. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has held 30 phone calls with officials from Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and other relevant stakeholders as of mid-April, according to official foreign ministry records. Wang also hosted his counterpart from Pakistan – which serves as the official lead mediator for the current talks – to unveil a five-point Chinese peace proposal that calls for an immediate end to hostilities and the full reopening of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

In an unusually public shift, Chinese President Xi Jinping has also taken an outspoken stance on the conflict. Last week, he warned against a global return to the “law of the jungle,” and this week he explicitly called for the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for 20% of the world’s daily oil supply, to be reopened to commercial traffic.

Analysts point out that China’s influence in the region stems directly from its status as an economic superpower. George Chen, a partner at the global consultancy The Asia Group, noted that China’s role in the Iran situation is functionally irreplaceable. As Tehran’s top oil customer, its diplomatic input carries far more weight than many other global actors, and it is one of the few major powers that has publicly expressed sympathy for Iran’s position at the United Nations. The U.S. government has also documented that Iran’s ballistic missile program was developed using Chinese technology, and China continues to sell dual-use industrial components that can be adapted for missile production.

While China has not taken the lead in active on-the-ground mediation like Pakistan and key Gulf Arab states, it holds a unique position as a critical economic partner for nearly every major actor in the region. Tuvia Gering, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, explained that Beijing is uniquely able to offer Tehran tangible economic incentives that will matter greatly after the war ends, including pledges of reconstruction investment and commercial relief that few other countries can match. “It could be one of the few actors capable of giving Tehran both political cover and material incentives to accept constraints and stick to them,” Gering noted.

This current mediation effort is just one part of a broader trend of growing Chinese global diplomatic engagement in recent years. One of Beijing’s most high-profile diplomatic successes came in 2023, when it helped broker the historic reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran that restored official diplomatic ties between the two long-time rivals. The breakthrough was widely celebrated as a major geopolitical achievement that reduced the risk of open conflict across the Middle East.

However, Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, a researcher at the Center of Economic and Law Studies in Indonesia, pointed out that China carefully selects which conflicts it engages in, often stepping in only when conditions are already ripe for a deal. “Its mediation tends to be opportunistic and low-risk, often occurring when the parties themselves already have incentives to reach agreement,” Rakhmat explained.

Beyond the Middle East, China has also tested its mediation model in other regional conflicts. It hosted multiple rounds of talks between Thailand and Cambodia during their 2024 border dispute, joined U.S. negotiators for initial ceasefire discussions in Malaysia, and helped broker a second truce after fighting reignited in December. Beijing has also put forward a formal peace proposal for the ongoing war in Ukraine, and even hosted the Ukrainian foreign minister for talks, despite its stated “no-limits” strategic partnership with Russia.

Across all of these mediation efforts, experts note that China’s public messaging follows a consistent script, with heavy emphasis on upholding the United Nations Charter, respect for national sovereignty, and adherence to international law. In comments on the Iran conflict, Xi echoed this standard framework, calling for “upholding the principles of peaceful coexistence, upholding national sovereignty, upholding the rule of international law, and coordinating development and security.”

Hoo Tiang Boon, a professor of Chinese foreign policy at Nanyang Technological University, noted that this consistent framing is a deliberate choice. “A lot of the points are remarkably consistent,” he said.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of international relations at Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University, argued that for China, engaging in distant conflicts carries low direct strategic risk but offers major reputational benefits, especially as the international community adjusts to the Trump administration’s unconventional negotiation approach. “What the U.S. is doing is deeply damaging, and everyone suffers from it … and China is displaying global leadership and exerting its global role by speaking to the rules-based international system,” he said. “It’s an inescapable contrast.”

Leung contributed reporting from Hong Kong.

Against a backdrop of escalating geopolitical friction across the South China Sea and adjacent waters, a senior Taiwanese official has carried out a high-profile, uncommon visit to Taiwan-controlled Itu Aba — also known as Taiping Island — to oversee regional coast guard training exercises.

Ocean Affairs Minister Kuan Bi-ling personally oversaw two types of drills on the contested islet: humanitarian search-and-rescue operations and full-scale medical evacuation simulations. The training also included a live-interception scenario, where armed coast guard personnel responded to an unresponsive suspicious cargo vessel. Released coast guard footage shows heavily equipped special operations units breaching the vessel’s control room to secure the scene.

Itu Aba, the largest naturally formed island in the Spratly Islands chain, spans 46 hectares and is currently home to a permanent population of roughly 200 residents. The islet hosts critical infrastructure including a working airstrip and a full-service hospital, but its status remains a flashpoint for competing territorial claims. In addition to Taiwan’s ongoing administration, Beijing, Hanoi and Manila all assert full sovereignty over the land feature.

This visit unfolds at a moment of heightened regional military activity. At the time of Kuan’s trip, the United States and the Philippines were conducting their largest-ever joint military exercises across Philippine territory, a move that triggered sharp pushback from Beijing. In response to the US-Philippines drills, China deployed a newly commissioned amphibious warship to the South China Sea and sailed one of its active aircraft carriers through the nearby Taiwan Strait. Cross-Strait tensions also frame the dispute: China claims the self-governing island of Taiwan as an inalienable part of its territory, a position Taiwan’s government rejects outright.

The 2016 international arbitration ruling initiated by the Philippines reclassified Itu Aba as a “rock” rather than a full island under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. This classification restricts claimed resource rights to just a 12-nautical-mile exclusive zone around the islet, instead of the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone that would be granted if it were recognized as a full island. Both Taipei and Beijing rejected the ruling outright and have refused to recognize the arbitration outcome. In 2024, Taiwan’s then-foreign minister Joseph Wu issued a stark warning that China had already constructed large-scale military installations across areas surrounding Itu Aba, further shifting the regional military balance in Beijing’s favor.

### Escalating Maritime Standoff in the Strategic Strait of Hormuz
Two months into open conflict, a tense stalemate over competing naval blockades has reignited friction between the United States and Iran in one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, with negotiations to end hostilities remaining deadlocked and neither side showing willingness to back down.

On Wednesday, Iranian fast-attack craft intercepted three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, before escorting two of the detained ships into Iranian territorial waters. The two seized vessels are identified as the *Epaminondas*, a Greek-owned cargo ship flying a Liberian flag, and the *Francesca*, a container vessel operated by Mediterranean Shipping Company, a major shipping firm headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Iran’s operation delivered a clear message: despite repeated U.S. claims that Iran’s naval capabilities in the region have been crippled, Tehran’s small attack craft retain full operational ability to regulate and disrupt maritime traffic through the strait, a route that carries roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil trade.

The latest seizures are a direct response to a U.S. action earlier this week, when American forces detained an Iranian crude oil tanker in the Indian Ocean that was sanctioned for allegedly smuggling Iranian oil exports. The current round of blockades dates back to February, when the Trump administration imposed a full naval blockade on Iran after Tehran seized control of key sections of the Strait of Hormuz following an attack on its assets.

U.S. Central Command announced Wednesday that its blockade has so far blocked 29 vessels from violating the restrictions. Top Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has also hinted that the U.S. boycott of Iranian ports and commercial vessels may soon expand into a global campaign. But the Trump administration’s claims of a fully effective blockade have been called into question by maritime industry outlet Lloyd’s List, which confirmed that more than 24 commercial vessels — including multiple tankers linked to Iran — have successfully evaded U.S. warships patrolling the Gulf of Oman in recent weeks.

In an attempt to de-escalate rhetoric and protect the fragile existing ceasefire, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed the significance of Wednesday’s vessel seizures. She emphasized that the detained ships are not American or Israeli-flagged vessels, but rather two international commercial ships, so the action does not qualify as a breach of the ceasefire agreement. “The naval blockade that the U.S. has imposed continues to be incredibly effective,” Leavitt told reporters Wednesday.

Iran has pushed back sharply on this framing, arguing that the U.S. blockade itself is a clear violation of the ceasefire. Tehran has reiterated that it will continue detaining international vessels transiting out of the Strait of Hormuz until the U.S. blockade is fully lifted. “A complete ceasefire only has meaning if it is not violated through a naval blockade,” stated Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament. “Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not possible amid a blatant violation of the ceasefire.”

The White House’s softening of rhetoric is explicitly aimed at preserving the fragile ceasefire that was set to expire this week. On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced an indefinite extension of the truce, saying the move came at the request of Pakistan, which has served as a neutral mediator between Washington and Tehran. Trump explained the extension was necessary to give Iran additional time to review and respond to U.S. negotiation proposals. But Tehran has rejected this narrative, saying the U.S. has put forward unreasonable demands that are not open to compromise.

Leavitt pushed back on media reports suggesting the White House had set a hard deadline for Iran to respond, telling journalists Wednesday: “The president has not set a firm deadline to receive an Iranian proposal, unlike some of the reporting I’ve seen today. Ultimately, the timeline will be dictated by the commander-in-chief.”

While large-scale open fighting has halted under the ceasefire, the escalating standoff over control of the Strait of Hormuz has sparked widespread anxiety among neighboring Gulf states. Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates all depend on the strait for the vast majority of their oil and gas export volumes, leaving their economies highly exposed to any prolonged disruption to maritime traffic.

In response to reports that the UAE has requested a currency swap arrangement to shore up its dollar liquidity, Trump confirmed Tuesday that the White House is considering providing targeted financial support to the Emirati central bank. Currency swap lines allow foreign central banks to exchange their domestic currency for U.S. dollars during periods of market liquidity stress.

On Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed to congressional lawmakers that the administration is weighing emergency dollar liquidity support for “many” Gulf states, including the UAE. Bessent explained that the arrangement, which functions as a short-term dollar loan, would benefit the U.S. as well by preventing disorderly sell-offs of U.S. dollar-denominated assets held by Gulf central banks. The UAE holds hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. assets, including Treasury securities and U.S.-listed equities.

“Swap lines, whether it’s from the Federal Reserve or the Treasury, are to maintain order in the dollar funding markets and to prevent the sale of the U.S. assets in a disorderly way,” Bessent said. “So, the swap line would benefit both the UAE and the U.S., and as I said, numerous other countries, including some of our Asian allies, have also requested them.”