Addressing concerns that there have been changes in the relationship between Taiwan and the US, President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen made the remarks while attending a banquet held in his honor by Taiwanese expatriates in Seattle. Concluding his Central American trip, Chen and his entourage on Friday arrived in Seattle for a stopover before returning to Taipei early today.
"Some said that Taiwan's treatment by the US [this time] had gone backward in comparison with last year," Chen said, referring to his high-profile stopover in New York on his way to Panama last year. On that occasion, Chen received an international human-rights award, delivered a speech and was interviewed by the media during a cruise on the East River.
Chen kept a lower profile this time in his stopovers in Hawaii and Seattle on his way to and back from Central America, and the stops had been cut short to between seven and nine hours from original planned overnight stays.
Regarding the trip this time, Chen said that he appreciated the treatment he received during his transits in Hawaii and Seattle and cited examples to demonstrate the US' friendliness.
Chen said that during his travels in Hawaii, the US government had cleared the traffic for his motorcade, "which was unprecedented during the past four years."
Chen also said that editorials published by the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post Intelligencer were encouraging -- the former welcomed his visit and the latter commended his announcement on Monday to cancel Taiwan's annual live-fire military drills as a gesture of goodwill for cross-strait peace.
"Taiwan and the US are best friends, and being friends, we have to have empathy, comprehend our friend's situation and not bother them when they are occupied with other important events," Chen said, referring to the US' Nov. 2 election.
"As a national leader, I have the responsibility not to let our children go to the battlefields," Chen said, reiterating that he would not accept the unification law which China intended to enact.
"Not only Taiwan can't accept such a law, but the US and the rest of the peace-loving world would not find the unification law acceptable either," Chen said, adding that he hopes to build Taiwan "to be a complete, normal, great and beautiful country."
Chen also said that for the sake of national unity, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is ready to cede some power and resources to other parties.
"For the sake of unifying Taiwan, the DPP will release some of its power and resources and let a non-DPP person serve as the Control Yuan president," Chen said.
Current Control Yuan President Fredrick Chien (
On criticism that this decision by Chen demonstrates conniving on his part, Chen said that when the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was in power, it never occurred to them to give the post of head of one of the five yuans to a member of another party.
Claiming that "the DPP is broad-minded," the president said democracy requires checks and balances to prevent the accumulation of absolute power and thus corruption.
He stressed that the DPP will not adopt a "winner takes all" approach, adding that in the next three or four years, he will lead Taiwan in this spirit to enable the country to shed its tragic past and move toward becoming a "normal, complete, great and beautiful country."
Other important public figures at the banquet included the chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, William Brown, the acting Governor of Washington State and Taiwan's representative to the US, David Lee (
Chen also met with Democratic representatives Jim McDermott and Rick Larson of Washington.
Also See Story:
Chang in spotlight since Chen talk
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS