Taiwanese officials in Taipei and Washington appear to have allayed fears among US officials over President Chen Shui-bian's (
A series of urgent meetings between Taiwanese and American officials appears to have assuaged Washington's fears that Chen's statement would bring a strong Chinese reaction and poison the US-Taiwan-China triangular situation.
The Taiwanese officials also appear to have calmed Washington anger over Chen's failure to notify the US beforehand of his constitutional demarche. The situation appeared to have been a replay of previous Chen pronouncements in which he failed to warn Washington beforehand, including his statement that there is "one country on each side" of the Taiwan Strait, and his plan to hold a referendum to coincide with next March's presidential election.
In the wake of the firestorm that erupted in response to Chen's constitution announcement, the George W. Bush administration dispatched the head of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), Therese Shaheen, and Deputy Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Randall Shriver on Sunday to meet with Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien, in Baltimore, where he was visiting at the time, to solicit his views on Chen's pronouncement.
In Taipei, Secretary General of the Presidential Office Chiou I-jen (
In Washington, the head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, Chen Chien-jen (
They made the following points, according to Taiwanese sources in Washington:
The new constitution would not deal with issues related to independence or unification with China. It would deal only with domestic political issues such as the size of the legislature, whether Taiwan would have a three-sided or five-sided government, and whether the government would be a presidential or a parliamentary style.
"They seemed to understand it better," a Taiwanese source said of the US administrations' position after the briefings.
Nevertheless, the Bush administration was concerned over Chen's remarks, and may still be concerned, over China's potential response to Chen's announcement and how that might affect Beijing-Taiwan-Washington trilateral ties.
"They may not like it," but at least Washington has a better understanding of Chen's intentions, a source said. The US' main concern is over the peace and stability of cross-strait relations, the source said.
The Taiwanese representatives' explanations in the US and Taiwan appear to ease those concerns, Taiwanese officials feel.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS