Former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀) yesterday ended a visit to Taiwan, having met President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to express his friendship with Taiwan, as well as the friendship between the Singaporean and Taiwanese governments.
Taiwan’s Representative to Singapore Vanessa Shih (史亞平) said Lee’s incognito visit was primarily the result of his regard for Ma’s cross-strait policies and her office’s hard work in building trust between the two countries.
Lee said last year that Beijing did not express displeasure at Singaporean officials visiting Taiwan, which he attributed to warming ties across the Taiwan Strait.
“I think the obstacle [visiting Taiwan] has been cleared,” he said.
In a statement, the Presidential Office said Lee had praised Ma’s policy of “no unification, no independence and no use of force” in the Taiwan Strait, saying it benefitted both sides and was supported by other countries in the region.
Lee also praised Ma for bringing Taiwan out of the global financial crisis so quickly.
The Presidential Office’s statement said Ma had thanked Lee for the “crucial role” played by Singapore in regional economic integration, ongoing negotiations on an economic partnership agreement and for providing the location for talks between former Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) and former Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait chairman Wang Daohan (汪道涵) in 1993, the first official talks between Taiwan and China since 1949.
Lee arrived in Taiwan on Monday accompanied by his daughter Lee Wei Ling (李瑋玲) and he left yesterday.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
SECURITY: President William Lai has announced plans to restore the military court system that was disbanded in 2013 to address a surge in Chinese infiltration efforts Taiwan plans to reinstate military judges to hear Chinese espionage cases and other offenses involving Taiwanese service members, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. There would be a review and legal amendments “to reinstate the military trial system,” he told reporters after a national security meeting. “Military judges will return to the front line,” Lai said. Military judges would work “alongside prosecutorial and judicial agencies to handle criminal cases involving active-duty military personnel accused of treason, aiding the enemy, leaking classified information, dereliction of duty, insubordination and other military offenses,” he said. The number of people prosecuted for spying for Beijing has risen sharply,
RSS