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
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
RSS