The recent string of goodwill gestures extended by President Chen Shui-bian (
"When I see Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), I'll tell him that President Chen has expressed goodwill gestures in various occasions and that his resolve to pursue peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is strong," Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), the president of Academia Sinica, told a press conference held upon his arrival. "I don't have any new messages for President Hu, except for those mentioned in President Chen's inauguration speech, the National Day address and the Nov. 11 speech."
During Chen's inauguration speech, he pledged to honor the "five noes" promised in his 2000 inauguration speech. He also urged both sides to establish a dynamic "peace and stability framework" for interactions.
Chen called on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to use a 1992 meeting in Hong Kong as the basis to return to the negotiating table during the National Day address.
On the one-month anniversary of his National Day address, Chen reiterated proposals made during his National Day speech and proposed that both sides seriously consider the issue of arms control and establish confidence-building measures through consultations and dialogues.
Chen also urged both sides to review military policies and seek to establish a code of conduct across the Taiwan Strait as a tangible guarantee of permanent peace in the Taiwan Strait.
Lee said that he also plans to mention Chen's recent invitation to Wang Daohan (
Commenting on the recent Cabinet reshuffle in the Bush administration, Lee said that he remained upbeat about Taiwan-US relations and suspected that it would remain unchanged during Bush's second presidential term.
"The US is a maturely developed democratic country, so I don't think its foreign policy will change dramatically simply because of the replacement of a few people," he said. "I believe President Bush will exert himself in maintaining Taiwan-US relations and safeguarding peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region for the following four years."
Casting the removal of a Taiwanese promotion video because of China's protests as a "petty matter," Lee said that he knew little about the fracas because he had been in Japan attending a technology forum.
William Yih (易榮宗), spokesman for the Taiwanese delegation, was assigned by Lee to answer the question.
"We feel sorry about what happened because no APEC member economy has the right to conduct anything similar to news censorship on any other member economy," he said. "We hope the matter ends here and both sides focus on more constructive issues."
Lee also expressed optimism over the bilateral talks with other economic leaders during the forthcoming leaders' summit.
"Economic leaders come to the meeting every year to discuss regional problems and possible solutions. This year is no exception," he said. "While we have not yet finalized the bilateral meetings with other economy leaders, I believe there are plenty of opportunities to do so."
Although China's economic development could be seen as an opportunity for Taiwan, Lee said that he is also worried that Taiwan might lose its competitive edge during the course of time.
In the era of globalization, Lee said that all APEC economies should make efforts to compete and cooperate towards the common goal of bettering regional welfare as well as that of the entire human race.
"There's no world peace if mankind cannot solve the plight of the African continent," he said. "There's no hope if the world doesn't work together as a family to work out problems and respect each other's unique customs and cultures."
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
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