Former US president Bill Clinton will maintain his support for the "one China" policy despite his upcoming meeting President Chen Shui-bian (
"The United States and I have not changed our positions [on the Taiwan question] ... I hope that China and Taiwan would not think that my position or the US's would change because of this trip," he told a Hong Kong newspaper group in an interview in Tokyo ahead of his two-day visit to Taiwan yesterday.
PHOTO: CHEN TSE-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
"I sincerely stand by the one-China policy ... I sincerely hope to see peace in the Taiwan Strait. At the same time I urge them both to solve their disputes peacefully," he was quoted as saying.
Clinton promised to also abide by the three joint communiques which form the basis of China-US relations and to oppose Taiwan independence.
Such views would be passed on to Chen during his visit on the country during which he would also laud the economic achievements there.
He said he believed the closer economic ties between them would help to ease cross-strait tensions.
Irritable China
Nevertheless, China was irritated by Clinton's scheduled meeting with Chen, who was viewed as a dangerous "splittist" leading Taiwan down the road toward formal independence, a move Beijing said would be regarded as an act of war.
But last week, Chen pledged not to push for the nation's formal independence after a series of peace overtures to rival China.
Clinton welcomed the softening tone in Chen's recent remarks and believed the Taiwan issue could be solved without force.
Clinton is scheduled to deliver a speech on Asia's democracy in Taipei on Sunday evening. His visit to Taiwan will be his first he left the White House in January 2001.
Clinton ordered two aircraft carrier battle groups to waters near Taiwan after China lobbed ballistic missiles into shipping lanes near Taiwan's main island in 1996.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
Weather conditions across Taiwan are expected to remain stable today, but cloudy to rainy skies are expected from tomorrow onward due to increasing moisture in the atmosphere, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). Daytime highs today are expected to hit 25-27°C in western Taiwan and 22-24°C in the eastern counties of Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung, data on the CWA website indicated. After sunset, temperatures could drop to 16-17°C in most parts of Taiwan. For tomorrow, precipitation is likely in northern Taiwan as a cloud system moves in from China. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover around 25°C, the CWA said. Starting Monday, areas
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
Taiwan has recorded its first fatal case of Coxsackie B5 enterovirus in 10 years after a one-year-old boy from southern Taiwan died from complications early last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. CDC spokesman Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told a news conference that the child initially developed a fever and respiratory symptoms before experiencing seizures and loss of consciousness. The boy was diagnosed with acute encephalitis and admitted to intensive care, but his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he passed away on the sixth day of illness, Lo said. This also marks Taiwan’s third enterovirus-related death this year and the first severe
RSS