President Chen Shui-bian (
"I sincerely hope I can have the opportunity to visit Washington over the next four years ... and personally witness the sincere friendship between the peoples of Taiwan and the United States," the statement quoted Chen as telling a group of pro-independence Taiwanese-American professors in Taipei late on Saturday.
When Lee Teng-hui (
PHOTO: CNA
George Tsai (
"The United States is going to be very cautious in case they send the wrong signal to mainland China," Tsai said.
The Presidential Office and the American Institute in Taiwan could not be reached for comment.
In his inauguration speech last Thursday, Chen did not repeat plans to hold a referendum on a new constitution, assuaging key ally Washington. But Beijing has lingering doubts about his pro-independence dreams.
"Tension and uncertainties between the two sides will remain in the next four years. We should not be too hopeful about future ties," said Chang Hsin-yi (
"Misjudgment and misunderstanding could easily lead to conflict," Chang added.
A resumption of dialogue, frozen by Beijing since 1999 due to a dispute over Taiwan's political status, appears unlikely.
"Deep distrust between the both sides make any kind of breakthrough impossible. The lack of trust means the chance of opening political dialogue is next to impossible," said Andy Chang (張五岳), a professor at the Institute of China Studies of Tamkang University.
Last week, the US House of Representatives passed 391-34 a resolution that included an amendment by Jim Ryun, a Republican from Kansas, initiating senior military officer education exchanges with Taiwan, according to the congressman's Web site.
The exchanges would focus on anti-submarine warfare, missile defense and C4ISR -- command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance -- which are fields identified by the US Department of Defense where Taiwan is in most need of assistance.
"This amendment will help make Taiwan more defensively sufficient, while at the same time improving its ability to fight alongside the United States in a crisis if necessary," Ryun said.
Last week, White House spokesman Scott McClellan welcomed Chen's inaugural speech as "responsible and constructive" for avoiding a showdown with China over Taiwan's political status.
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