President Chen Shui-bian's (
Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) said yesterday that Chen's speech was based on worries about China's relentless suppression of Taiwan, which has caused the cross-strait political, economic and military balance to tip toward China, a worrying situation that could lead to a unilateral change of the current status quo.
"As a national leader, the president has to pay attention to such signs and the people should understand the logic behind his Lunar New Year remarks and not take his words out of context," Huang said.
The foreign affairs minister said yesterday that Taipei has increased communications with Washington since Chen made the speech on Sunday to convey a fuller picture to US authorities and that Taiwan's stance on the cross-strait status quo was consistent with that of the US.
He said that there were indeed differences in Washington and Taipei's understanding of Chen's Lunar New Year remarks, but the gap was not a major one and had not caused a "crisis of trust" in US and Taiwan relations.
Regarding the State Department's statement that Taiwan joining the UN under the name of "Taiwan" would constitute a unilateral change of the status quo, Huang said it was "too strong" for the US to use such words.
Huang said Taiwan understands the US' reasons for reiterating its stated policy and that communications between the two sides remain smooth.
However, Huang said, because of the fast-changing cross-strait situation and the increasing difficulties and limitations placed on Taiwan's international participation, the US may not always understand Taiwan's predicament well enough.
Meanwhile, Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday explained that Chen's proposal to abolish the National Unification Council and guidelines was based on a legislative resolution passed on Jan. 12 this year to abolish all the unauthorized institutions under the Presidential Office.
Wu said these institutions included the Constitutional Reform Office, the Youth Corps, the National Human Rights Museum Preparatory Task Force and Technological Development Consultation Advisory Board.
"If all unauthorized organizations under the Presidential Office are to be abolished, it should imply that the National Unification Council, which is also unauthorized, should be abolished as well," Wu said.
In addition, Wu said that the council hardly functions at all, as its annual budget currently stands at only NT$1,000 after the Legislature slashed the original NT$6 million (US$187,000) budget proposed by the Presidential Office in 2003. Since then the council's budget has remained at NT$1,000 each year and the council hasn't convened a meeting since 1999.
"If we put the two resolutions passed by the Legislative Yuan together, one about the budget-slashing, and the other about unauthorized organizations, that means the Legislature itself wants to abolish the National Unification Council," Wu said.
"Anyway, the president's proposal is still under review and evaluation by the National Security Council, and therefore it has nothing to do with whether or not we are intending to [change] the `four noes,'" he said.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS