The Presidential Office yesterday denied a Chinese-language media report that said Taipei, using its contacts in the US, had asked China to make some cross-strait concessions now that it has passed its "Anti-Secession" Law.
"The government did not do what the story reported," a Presidential Office spokesperson said in a text message dismissing the content of the report.
The text message was confirmed to be authentic.
A report in the China Times yesterday said that "A source confirmed that the government had sought mediation through the US to relay Taiwan's hope that China could show some good will ... now it had passed the Anti-Secession Law."
The so-called "goodwill gestures that are of substantial interests to Taiwan" included, for instance, Beijing not interfering with Taiwan's signing of free trade pacts with other counties, allowing Taiwan to participate in the World Health Assembly and permitting a certain number of tourists from China to visit Taiwan, the report said.
The text message denied this, saying, "President Chen Shui-bian (
In his first comments on the law, Chen on Wednesday expressed "grave concern and regret," over the legislation and announced an official reaction to the law, broken down into six principles. These include: Taiwan is an independent sovereign state and only the Taiwanese people can decide the nation's future; Taiwan and China should resolve their differences through dialogue; China's law is and insult and violates the principles of freedom, democracy and human rights; and Taiwan will seek reconciliation, not confrontation, with China.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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