The US government did not request an early look at President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) New Year address, the Presidential Office said yesterday.
Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Liu Shih-fang (
She added that Chen was not obliged to show his New Year address to the US government for approval.
"As we have done in the past, we will inform the US government of the general content of the president's New Year address," Liu said. "However, we don't have the obligation to let them look it over."
Press report
Liu was responding to a report that was published in yesterday's Chinese-language Apple Daily.
The report said that Young had personally requested Presidential Office Secretary-General Mark Chen (陳唐山) for permission to preview the draft of the president's New Year address because he was worried that it "might cause trouble," particularly the section touching on constitutional reform.
The report said that Young made the request before he returned to the US for the Christmas holidays.
Mark Chen had intended to present Young with an outline of the draft, but Young was unhappy with the answer, the report said.
The report said that Young then complained to President Chen.
Arms package
As the US government has been supportive of the long-stalled arms procurement package, the report said that Young thought President Chen should at least have responded to US concerns about the "Second Republic" constitution proposed by former presidential advisor Koo Kwang-ming (
Liu yesterday said that interactions between Taiwan and the US have conformed and will continue to conform to diplomatic protocol.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
RSS