Representative to the US Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) yesterday said that the US was not notified in advance of the New Year’s Day flag-raising ceremony at Twin Oaks Estate in Washington, but said the ceremony did not require “approval” and was done according to “precedent,” adding that it had deliberately not notified the US “out of good will,” to allow the US to have the leeway to declare that it had not known about the event beforehand.
The raising of the Republic of China (ROC) national flag on New Year’s Day at Twin Oaks, currently the residence of the nation’s official representative to the US, but once that of ROC ambassadors to the US, has caused friction between the US and Taiwan, with the predictable protest from China.
The ceremony was initially reported to have been “the first in 36 years, since the flag was lowered in 1978, when Washington switched recognition to the People’s Republic of China” and to have received “the US’ permission in advance.”
Photo: AFP
Shen, speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee meeting yesterday, said those reports had been mistaken, because the New Year Day’s flag-hoisting was not the first in the past 36 years, as the flag was raised at a party to celebrate Double Ten National Day last year.
Accusing “certain media” of “misreporting,” Shen added that there was no need for the office to secure the US’ “approval” beforehand, it or its “forgiveness” afterward, since “the Twin Oaks is our property, which the ROC government bought for US$2 million.”
However, Shen said he would continue to communicate with US officials on the matter, after lawmakers voiced concerns that the incident might incur retaliatory actions from the US, such as stalling ongoing trade negotiations or lowering the level of bilateral exchanges.
The representative railed against “certain media” over their reports citing “an [unnamed] official in US President Barack Obama’s administration” as saying that the action had undermined trust and hurt the Taiwan-US bilateral relationship.
Shen denied that the quoted official, who reportedly laid out seven points to delineate the Obama administration’s position and disapproval of the event, could represent Washington’s official position, underlining US Department of State spokesperson Jen Psaki’s remarks that “nothing has changed [concerning the bilateral relationship]” and contending that US policy officials he had talked to about the matter had expressed their understanding, and there has been “no repudiative comments from the US.”
However, Shen was informed by KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) of the latest remarks made by Psaki on Tuesday, which said the US is “disappointed with the action” and “the flag-raising ceremony violated [the two parties’] longstanding understanding on the conduct of [the Taiwan-US] unofficial relations.”
Lin nevertheless called the incident “a tempest in a teapot” and displayed a photograph during the meeting picturing the US national flag raised at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).
“How come they can raise the flag at the AIT, but we cannot at Twin Oaks?” he asked.
People First Party Legislator Thomas Lee (李桐豪) attributed the controversy to China, “without whose pressure there would not be any problem with our flag-raising ceremony in the US.”
“The Chinese government has failed to keep a sober mind on this issue,” Lee said. “If Beijing cannot even recognize the ROC flag, is it trying to push Taiwan toward [formal] independence?”
“There has already been a 318 [Sunflower] movement, and if Taiwanese continue to see this kind of repression from China [against Taiwan’s international space], another 318 can be expected,” Lee said.
Shen said pressure from the Chinese government is incessant and that it is the “degree” that matters.
“I’ve heard that they also protested against our flag-raising on Double Ten. The difference this time, I suspect, lies in that the local Chinese-language newspaper, in addition to running the flag-raising event as a headline, ran the story of me attending the chairman handover ceremony of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association,” Shen said, implying that overseas compatriots’ support had further riled the Chinese authorities.
Shen, facing Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers’ repeated inquiries, denied that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Security Council or the Presidential Office had any advance knowledge of the event.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrew Kao (高振群) said the ministry relies on first-line diplomatic officials’ judgement and expertise and fully backs their decisions.
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 —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary