President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday congratulated US Pres-ident George W. Bush on his re-election and pledged to seek closer cooperation with the Bush administration in promoting regional peace and stability.
Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said at a Presidential Office press conference that immediately after the result of the US presidential election had been determined, Chen and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) sent messages to Bush and US Vice President Dick Cheney congratulating them on their re-election and to the American people on the success of the election.
Chen said in the message that the governments and peoples of Taiwan and the US had close ties and shared the values of democracy and human rights.
"Based on the two countries' shared values and based on existing foundations, [Taiwan] is willing to work together [with the US] to oppose terrorism, restrict the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, promote peace and deliver humanitarian aid," the message said.
"Taiwan and the US are mem-bers of the Asia-Pacific region, and the Republic of China government is willing to cooperate with the US government on an ongoing basis to safeguard regional peace and stability, while actively seeking dialogue with China to foster prospects for peaceful cross-strait relations," it said.
Su then urged Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) to learn some democratic manners from Democratic presidential nominee Senator John Kerry.
Lien filed an annulment suit challenging the result and encouraged weeks of protests staged in view of the Presidential Office.
"Look at the US and reflect on our situation," Su said. "Our 23 million compatriots must have sighed with emotion to see how Al Gore, the US presidential candidate four years ago, and Kerry yesterday, presented themselves so gracefully in defeat to uphold the democratic system and their responsibilities to the country and the people."
In contrast, Su said, Lien had "set a bad example for a democratic society" by "running in the election yet being unwilling to concede defeat, by filing a lawsuit yet distrusting the court and criticizing the [process] before the court renders its verdict."
Su was referring to remarks made by Lien on Wednesday during a KMT Central Standing Committee meeting, in which he accused Chen of fraud and said a person like this deserved to be killed.
"Lien's behavior leads one to conclude that he is a sore loser who has let his personal feelings bring about disturbances in Taiwan from March 20 until now," Su said.
Su also urged Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
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 —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS