President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen said the task force's priority for the moment was to draw up guidelines that would further peaceful interaction between Taiwan and China.
"For a number of reasons, the people of Taiwan and the international community have expressed concern over future instability in cross-strait relations," Chen told the meeting held at the Presidential Office.
"I therefore decided before the election to endeavor to build a peace and stability framework," he said.
"Now that the election has run its course, and with the people putting their trust in myself and Vice President [Annette] Lu (呂秀蓮), I must act on my promise," Chen said.
Chen stressed that the task force was just the first step and that, if the task force operated smoothly, a cross-strait peace development committee would be formed.
"We need to create criteria for the development of a peaceful and stable cross-strait relationship, creating a consensus of the government, the opposition alliance and all the people of Taiwan, I hope that this will be the first goal that the task force can accomplish," he said.
Chen announced in January that he would form a nine-member task force to set up the framework if he won the presidential election.
Chen also said that the task force would send a representative to Beijing to facilitate contact with the Chinese government.
High-powered members of the task force include Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Koo Chen-fu (
Task force members made suggestions on improving interaction with Beijing but remained tight-lipped yesterday.
"We gave our points of view to the president," Wu said, "however, it is inappropriate to go into the details of our meeting for the time being."
Chen Po-chih also refused to comment on the content of their discussion.
Other task force members are government officials with responsibilities in cross-strait affairs, such as Presidential Office Secretary General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), National Security Council Secretary General Kang Ning-hsiang (康寧祥) and Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Vice President Annette Lu also sits on the task force.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
RSS