Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) was re-elected yesterday to a fifth three-year term.
Koo, 85, has been led the foundation for the past 12 years.
Two vice chairmen, Shi Hwai-yow (
"I hope that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can restart talks as soon as possible," Koo told reporters after the election.
Koo said China's new leadership and Taiwan's authorities are aware of the importance of resuming cross-strait talks.
"Nothing can be solved without negotiation," he said.
Koo said he hoped that Wang Daohan (
Asked what made him stay on in his post, Koo smiled and said, "I would like to see cross-strait relations develop and I have a sense of responsibility about achieving that."
Koo is known to be in poor health and has kidney problems.
Chang said he had been concerned about cross-strait relations for many years.
"The two sides of the Taiwan Strait should cherish the existing peace. The achievements to date that were not easily accomplished," he said.
Chang said he had met President Chen Shui-bian (
He quoted Chen as saying, "As long as Koo and Wang can sit down to talks again, the 1.3 billion Chinese people and the 23 million Taiwanese people can find comfort."
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese