Taiwan protests to Kenya after officials blocked from oceans forum

Taiwan has accused Kenya of bowing to “Chinese pressure” by preventing its officials from taking part in an international oceans forum this week.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan is part of its territory and opposes the democratic island’s participation in international organisations and exchanges with other countries.

The minister of Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council, Kuan Bi-ling, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that Kenyan authorities had detained two of its delegates to the Our Ocean Conference in the city of Mombasa this week.

Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said on Wednesday that Kenya had done so under “high-level Chinese pressure”.

“We see this is a new normal. China is pressuring other countries more and more to behave towards Taiwan in a way that exceeds the past.”

Taiwan had been invited to the forum and had paid to set up a booth, Lin said.

But Kenya had “distorted” its interpretation of the One China principle, “expanding it limitlessly to block our people from participating”, he told reporters in the capital Taipei.

“This is absolutely wrong and we strongly protest it.”

In recent years, China has increased military activity around Taiwan while also seeking to peel off its few remaining formal diplomatic allies.

Kuan said in her post that the two delegates were detained “for an extended period”, their passports and phones were confiscated, and they “faced a situation close to deportation”.

Others had their entry permits revoked, she said.

“This is not diplomatic coldness, it is unfair treatment”, she wrote.

Safeguard press freedom; keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team

• Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard
• Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook
• Share on X (Opens in new window)X
• Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window)Bluesky
• Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)LinkedIn
• Share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)WhatsApp
• Share on Mail (Opens in new window)Mail
• Share on Print (Opens in new window)Print

Support HKFP  |  Policies & Ethics  |  Error/typo?  |  Contact  |  Newsletter  | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps

Recurring donors unlock 8 benefits: Members get a free HKFP deer keyring or tote; ad-free browsing and no pop-ups; full access to HKFP Monitor, exclusive Tim Hamlett opinion columns; HKFP feature previews; 15% off all merch; Editor’s Blogs; and early access to our Annual/Transparency Report.

Make a donation to our newsroom of any sum (one-off donations do not unlock membership benefits.)

Dateline:

Taipei, Taiwan

Type of Story: News Service

Produced externally by an organization we trust to adhere to high journalistic standards.