The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday made an appeal to the US government not to leave Taiwan's interests behind during Chinese President Hu Jintao's (
MOFA Spokesman Michel Lu (
Lu said the government has instructed the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the US to investigate whether the meeting would damage the country's interests.
"We hope the US government will not ignore the voice of the Taiwanese people, and provide help in maintaining peace and stability across the Strait," Lu said.
Lu said the government has already expressed its concern to the US government, and will take note of developments during Hu's visit in the US.
CONCESSIONS?
Hu, who traveled to the US capital on a "coming out" trip in May 2002 as vice president, will visit Washington as concern mounts over China's intentions in the region.
A high-ranking official from the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), speaking on condition of anonymity, said because Hu had only recently consolidated his power, it was likely that he would seek high-profile concessions from the US on a number of issues, possibly including Taiwan.
However, the MAC official said, it did not seem likely that Bush would publicly criticize Taiwan at this time, given the recent detoriation of US-China ties.
In related news, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
"China has imitated Taiwan's efforts to improve its image in the US by hiring public relations firms to promote its domestic situation vis-a-vis its human rights situation, economic equality and religious freedom in the US," Chen said.
Chen made his remarks when he was interviewed by state-owned Radio Taiwan International.
The government signed a three-year contract with Barbour Griffith & Rogers on March 4 to help promote US-Taiwan relations.
NO PHONE
"As Taiwan and the US have no diplomatic relations, the government has to make our requests to the US via public relations firms. Unlike Taiwan, the Chinese minister of foreign affairs can get in touch with his US counterpart by phone," Chen said.
While it is not necessary for China to communicate with the US through private firms, the reason why China resorted to hiring the PR firms is to cover its weaknesses, Chen said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese
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