President-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday rejected President Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) invitation to attend a military exercise to be held by the National Security Council between April 25 and April 27.
The drill, code-named Yushan, is held annually to simulate crisis scenarios.
Ma’s spokesman Luo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said that Ma’s schedule was fully booked for the dates in question and he would not be able to accompany the president. Luo declined to specify what events Ma had scheduled.
Luo said that it was the government’s duty and obligation to hold the drill, regardless of Ma’s attendance.
The Presidential Office yesterday expressed regret that Ma would not attend.
An official from the Presidential Office, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was unfortunate that Ma had declined the invitation because he would miss an opportunity to learn about the operations of the national security system.
The drill will proceed as scheduled, with or without Ma, the official said.
The Presidential Office began power transfer procedures following a meeting between Chen and Ma on April 1 and between Ma’s campaign manager Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) and National Security Council Secretary-General Mark Chen (陳唐山) on April 3, the official said.
The Presidential Office would provide all necessary assistance to the president-elect and vice president-elect, should they have any requests concerning information on national defense, cross-strait relations or foreign affairs, the official said.
Although Ma will not attend the Yushan military drill, the official said, there were other channels available for him to learn about the nation’s national defense, as well as relations with China and other countries.
Meanwhile, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday said she hoped Ma would reconsider the invitation to observe the military drill.
Lu said she proposed at a high-level military meeting that the Yushan drill be rescheduled to accommodate Ma.
Lu said she did not know why Ma would not attend the event, adding that national security was an important matter that required in-depth knowledge.
In related news, Ma yesterday paid a visit to former Control Yuan president Fredrick Chien (錢復), also a former foreign affairs minister, to discuss cross-strait issues and the Control Yuan’s functions.
Ma said that he agreed with Chien that cross-strait relations were key to the nation’s foreign affairs policies and that improving the cross-strait relations would help solve many of the diplomatic difficulties experienced by the government.
“Most of our diplomatic problems come from the other side of the Taiwan Strait. We need to solve these issues from the roots,” Ma said yesterday after the 50-minute meeting with Chien at Taipei Guotai Financial Center.
Commenting on the Control Yuan, Chien urged Ma to find people with virtue and talent to serve as members of the government’s watchdog body.
The seats of the Control Yuan have remained vacant since the term of the previous members expired in January 2005 because of a pan-blue boycott of the president’s nominees.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
COVETED PRIZE: The US president would be a peace prize laureate should he persuade Xi Jinping to abandon military aggression against Taiwan, William Lai said US President Donald Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize should he be able to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to abandon the use of force against Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) told a conservative US radio show and podcast in an interview. The US is Taiwan’s most important international backer, despite the absence of formal ties, but since Trump took office earlier this year he has not announced any new arms sales to the nation. Trump could meet Xi at the APEC summit in South Korea on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Lai, speaking on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton
RSS