Vice President Annette Lu (
Lu told her visitors that she expected that Germany, which is now led by its first ever female chancellor Angela Merkel, will maintain its efforts to ensure world peace.
Lu said she appreciated the German parliament's decision last year not to allow the lifting of the arms embargo on China.
"The decision is crucial not only to Taiwan but also to the Asia-Pacific region," Lu said.
Stressing China's animosity toward Taiwan, Lu said that President Chen Shui-bian (
If cruise missiles are included in that count, Taiwan is now targeted by more than 800 Chinese missiles, Lu said.
"We clearly know that China wants to extend its power into the Pacific Ocean by taking Taiwan," Lu said.
Lu said she was glad to see the EU expand and that she hopes the EU's 25 members would jointly monitor the development of China's military capabilities in order to ensure peace in the region.
In his New Year address, Chen said that he would not bow to pressure from the opposition parties and China to relax his cross-strait policies. Since then, Chen's idea of "active management, effective opening" has been criticized by opposition parties.
Elaborating on the president's remarks, Presidential office Deputy Secretary-General James Huang (
Huang made the remarks while meeting with foreign correspondents in Taipei to explain Chen's policies.
Huang said that Chen's past "five noes" pledges and his sincere willingness to engage in dialogue with China remain unchanged.
"The president has held out olive branches several times, but the Beijing government remains hostile to Taiwan's government," Huang said.
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
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