US President George W. Bush's National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice has referred to Taiwan as a "country," in a reference that equated Taiwan with other nations such as Germany and Japan.
Rice made the reference in remarks prepared for delivery to the annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists, held in Dallas on Thursday.
The thrust of her speech was the Bush administration's aims in Iraq and elsewhere, with a focus on democracy. She used Taiwan as one of the examples of a democratic society.
Recalling how she, her audience and all blacks had suffered the denial of civil rights and the fruits of democracy throughout much of America's history, she made the point that all people want and democracy and are equally deserving of it.
"The desire for freedom transcends race, religion and culture ... as countries as diverse as Germany, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey have proved," she said, according to the transcript of her prepared remarks released Thursday by the White House.
While in strict diplomatic parlance, Taiwan is not referred to as a "country" by the US government, it is routinely called a country -- rather than an "island" or a "province" -- in informal conversations and even in official pronouncements by top members of the Bush administration.
This reflects the fact that a large number of such officials have been strong Taiwan supporters in their earlier lives as scholars, minor officials of previous administrations and Washington thing-tank fellows.
These same officials also have a history of being strongly ideologically opposed to China's communist regime.
Many official government reports treat Taiwan separately from China, including annual and periodic reports by the US Trade Representative's office on trade issues and State Department reports on human rights and other global issues.
Bush himself has referred to Taiwan as a country more than once. Nevertheless, the Bush administration has tried to distance itself in the past from remarks such as President Chen Shui-bian's (
The Bush administration has also long adhered to it's stance of not supporting Taiwan independence, and opposing Taiwan's membership in international organizations requiring statehood -- including the UN and its member agencies, such as the World Health Organization. In doing so, the White House and has consistently relied on a "one-China" policy as the basis of its cross-Strait stance.
Nevertheless, since Chen took office, US officials have felt more comfortable in using Taiwan's democracy as an example for global democratic reform, and, in the process, have often referred to Taiwan as a "country."
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS