US Secretary of State Colin Powell's change of phrase in a television interview yesterday does not indicate that he has retracted an earlier denial of Taiwan's sovereignty, pan-blue officials said yesterday.
"Powell did not actually say himself that he misspoke nor did he retract his earlier remarks. I don't see how his interview makes any difference," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesperson Chang Jung-kung (
Powell created a political shockwave when he strayed from Washington's long-standing policy in two different television interviews on Monday.
In the interviews, Powell denied that Taiwan is a sovereign nation and said that the US hoped for a "peaceful reunification" of China and Taiwan.
Speaking on the US network CNBC on Wednesday, Powell changed tack, referring to "a peaceful resolution of the problem" between Taiwan and China, but did mention or clarify his previous comments about cross-strait "reunification."
Since Monday, opposition parties have seized upon Powell's remarks as proof that the actions of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration have antagonized Taiwan-US relations and increased tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
Pan-blue parties were left similarly unimpressed by Powell's latest interview.
"The PFP [People First Party] holds to its prior position about Powell's comments. We are now tasting the consequences of Chen's policies. All I can say is that the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] government has shown lousy implementation of foreign policy and has isolated Taiwan," PFP spokesperson Hwang Yih-jiau (黃義交) said yesterday.
Despite Powell's seeming change of heart on Wednesday, Hwang said he believed that Powell's original comments still stand.
Chang agreed.
"So what if he [Powell] said that the US is hoping for a `peaceful resolution?' Of course it does; would it want an un-peaceful resolution?" Chang said.
Taiwan should take Powell's original comments as the possible consensus of the US leadership and bring about a policy change accordingly, Chang said.
Meanwhile, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said that Powell's remarks and actions reminded him of "similar things that happened when the US broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan."
"Powell chose to be interviewed by CNN and Phoenix TV. While CNN broadcasts to the whole world, Phoenix TV speaks to the Chinese community worldwide. Powell's remarks have also been published on the US State Department's Web site, and the act seems to be telling the whole world about Powell's ideas," Wang said.
Wang said that Taiwan should collect further information on the matter before making any judgment.
Additional reporting by Debby Wu
Police have issued warnings against traveling to Cambodia or Thailand when others have paid for the travel fare in light of increasing cases of teenagers, middle-aged and elderly people being tricked into traveling to these countries and then being held for ransom. Recounting their ordeal, one victim on Monday said she was asked by a friend to visit Thailand and help set up a bank account there, for which they would be paid NT$70,000 to NT$100,000 (US$2,136 to US$3,051). The victim said she had not found it strange that her friend was not coming along on the trip, adding that when she
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
RSS