Taiwan says Chinese pressure over the island is the "new normal"

FILE - Fish swim near coral on the ocean bed near Shimoni, Kenya, June 13, 2022. Brian Inganga/AP hide caption

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Attempts by China to exert pressure or influence on other countries to limit Taiwan's access to international events has become "the new normal," the island's foreign minister said Wednesday.

Lin Chia-Lung was speaking after Taiwanese delegates were detained in Kenya and denied access to an ocean conference, reportedly due to Chinese pressure on the organizers, according to Taiwan's Foreign Ministry.

China regards Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy, as a breakaway province and has not renounced the use of force to annex it. In recent months, Beijing has ramped up a campaign of pressuring other countries to limit the access of Taiwanese officials or delegates to various events.

In April, Taiwan's president postponed a planned visit to the African nation of Eswatini after three countries withdrew permission for him to fly over their territories after pressure from China, his office said. He eventually arrived in the African nation days later, on a plane chartered by Eswatini's king.

In the latest incident, two Taiwanese delegates to the international Our Ocean Conference being held in Mombasa were denied access on the grounds that their Taiwanese passports were not recognized, the Foreign Ministry in Taipei said on Tuesday.

Their passports and mobile phones were confiscated and they were detained for more than 20 hours before being allowed to leave the country, the ministry said.

The rest of the Taiwanese delegation withdrew from the conference after the incident.

Kenya defended its decision to deny access to the Taiwanese nationals. Foreign Ministry Principal Secretary Korir Sing'oei said his country's foreign policy "recognizes only one China."

Lin criticized Kenya for its "unilateral distortion and unwarranted expansion of their so-called 'One China' interpretation," referring to Beijing's claims over Taiwan.

Kenya's "obstruction of our delegates from attending the meeting is absolutely wrong, and we strongly condemn and protest against it," Lin said at an event hosted by the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents' Club.

China has not commented on the accusations.

China has long tried to limit Taiwan's representation in international bodies, including the World Health Organization and its governing body, the World Health Assembly. At the Olympic Games, Taiwan is forced to participate under the name "Chinese Taipei" due to Beijing's pressure.

Lin said China is increasingly pressuring other countries to exclude Taiwan, especially when it comes to developing and emerging economies that are under Beijing's economic sway.

"Some Global South countries are manipulated by the Chinese government in every way," Lin said. "Some democratic countries are trying to fight against it."

Kenya is hosting the annual oceans conference, which focuses on addressing critical ocean issues, including climate change, biodiversity and pollution.

Hundreds of delegates from Africa, the U.S., the European Union and climate-vulnerable Caribbean and Pacific island nations are taking part in the conference. Organizers have sought to position Africa — which is hosting the event for the first time — as a driving force in global ocean governance.

"Any person purporting to hold a Taiwanese passport would ordinarily not be allowed through our borders for lacking proper documentation and would not in any event be part of a formal state meeting convened by Kenya government," Sing'oei said.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, when the Communist Party rose to power in Beijing following a civil war. Defeated Nationalist Party forces fled to Taiwan, which later transitioned from martial law to multiparty democracy.

For decades, China has seen Taiwan as its own territory and said the island must come under its control, even under the use of force if necessary.