The US expects Taiwan to adopt a “transparent, fair and impartial” approach in the corruption proceedings against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), American Institute in Taiwan Director Stephen Young said yesterday.
“We believe it needs to be transparent, fair and impartial,” Young said at his biannual media briefing in Taipei.
“Considering that it is conducted in that manner, it can then strengthen the confidence both here and around the world in your democracy,” he said.
“The only thing I would say is that not only Taiwan, but your friends around the world will be watching this process very closely,” Young said.
Young said he had confidence in Taiwan’s democracy, but urged for more dialogue between the government and the opposition.
He also said that Taiwan-US relations would remain “strong and enduring” under the leadership of US president-elect Barack Obama.
In related news, the foreign affairs spokesmen of the ruling and opposition parties in the Netherlands on Tuesday expressed concern to Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen during a session of the Dutch parliament about the spate of detentions in Taiwan.
Maarten Haverkamp of the ruling Christian Democrat Party and Hans van Baalen of the opposition People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy asked the foreign minister if he was aware that “Chen and a number of politicians of the DPP [Democratic Progressive Party] have been arrested on suspicion of abuse of power while in power.”
Their prepared list of questions also asked Verhagen whether he planned to brief parliament on events in Taiwan so that its members could gain a better understanding of the situation.
They also asked the foreign minister whether he was prepared to use all available channels to “urge the present administration led by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to apply the basic principles of the rule of law in a democracy when prosecuting those who on juridical grounds are suspected of abuse of their position while in power.”
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 —
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