US officials have briefed Taiwan's representative office in Washington on their recent talks with a senior Chinese official in charge of Taiwan affairs, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday.
Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council, visited the US last week. His visit came amid reports that China's rubber-stamp legislature -- the National People's Congress -- will pass an anti-secession law in March.
As the proposed legislation will create a legal pretext for Beijing to use military force to unify with Taiwan, Chen's visit was believed to be aimed at dissuading the Bush administration from opposing the so-called anti-secession law.
The foreign affairs ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the government has come to know the content of Chen's talks with US authorities through Taiwan's representative office in Washington.
Meanwhile, ministry spokesman Michel Lu (
Lee will attend the inauguration as Chen's special envoy, Lu said, adding that the ministry has informed the US authorities of the delegation's members.
Ministry sources said that the nation's top Chinese policy planner, Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), will be part of the delegation.
Other delegates will include legislators from the ruling and opposition parties -- Kuo Cheng-liang (
As the Legislative Yuan is busy screening several critical bills and the central government's budget plan for this year, the sources said, the roster may change.
In line with past precedent, the delegation is expected to meet with US administration officials and congressional members as well as think tank members during the visit.
Lee said a day earlier, however, that he is going for no other purpose than to be Chen's envoy. He said he will leave discussions on Taiwan-US relations and related issues to other members of his delegation.
Ministry officials said delegation members will have different itineraries after attending the inauguration.
While Lee and some delegation members will return to Taiwan, while others will stay for talks with US officials, academics and experts. Topics expected to be addressed will include Beijing's anti-secession legislation, Chen Yun-lin's just-concluded US visit, Taiwan's long-stalled NT$610.8 billion arms procurement package and Chen's Shui-bian's plan to form a special commission to promote peaceful developments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
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
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
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