The US Congress has congratulated President Chen Shui-bian (
The letter, dated Wednesday, states: "This is to congratulate you on your re-election as president and vice-president of Taiwan. Free and fair elections are the cornerstone to democratic government. Taiwan has exhibited true democracy. We look forward to working with your administration on a host of issues on behalf of the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan."
Lu had said earlier yesterday that the Presidential Office was expecting the US government to follow diplomatic protocol by congratulating the newly elected president when the Central Election Commission (CEC) formally announces the winner of the election today.
PHOTO: CNA
"We hope to receive the congratulatory message from US President George W. Bush before March 26, the day that the Central Election Commission will give certificates declaring President Chen and me the winners of the election," Lu said at a meeting with American Institute in Taiwan Director Douglas Paal yesterday morning at the Presidential Office.
"We also hope that the US government will send a special delegation, with higher-level officials than the delegation they sent four years ago, to attend the inauguration ceremony on May 20 to express its respect to the Taiwanese people's sacrifices and democratic achievements," she said.
Chen and Lu invited business leaders to a discussion yesterday about restoring social order and economic development. Lu briefed the guests about her meeting with Paal. She said that the country's people are displeased with the developments in the wake of the election. She said they are worried that the nation's achievements of the past five decades have been cast in a negative light by a few people who continue to make groundless allegations in the media, thereby damaging the image of the entire nation.
"President Chen has paid a heavy price in his political career and I have also suffered the pains of cancer, being jailed and even taking a bullet," Lu said.
The US' first reaction to the election came on Sunday, when the State Department issued a short statement to congratulate "the people of Taiwan" for having conducted a democratic election campaign and for having exercised their democratic voting rights in such large numbers. The statement did not directly mention Chen.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) have been loudly protesting the result of the election, and the US government has urged both camps to resolve the election dispute.
On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the Bush administration had refrained from congratulating Chen because it was waiting for the legal process to be completed.
"We're just comfortable waiting for those processes to work themselves out, and not for us to say who won, but for them to tell us who won," Boucher said.
The Presidential Office said yesterday that the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Law (
"Once the commission certifies the result, the international community should respect Taiwan's legal system by making the appropriate diplomatic response to our new president and vice president," a high-ranking Presidential Office official said.
The official said that the High Court's rejection of the pan-blue camp's lawsuit seeking to overturn Chen's re-election was an endorsement of the legitimacy of their victory.
But the government is worried that the US' ambiguous attitude may encourage the pan-blue camp to expand their demonstration, according to the official.
"The Beijing authority and the pan-blue camp have been taking advantage of the US government's reaction to provoke supporters' anger, so that the illegal demonstrations can continue," the official said.
"The pan-blue camp's lawsuit against the commission and President Chen to have the election results annulled will drag on for months. The US government's hesitation in those months could cause disputes to worsen and further complicate the cross-strait situation, which the US government will also have to face," the official said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS