Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), the newly appointed de facto ambassador to the US, will play the role of a political buffer between the US and Taiwan to defuse any diplomatic tension during what remains of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) term in office.
Both former American Institute in Taiwan chairman Nat Bellocchi and Heritage Foundation researcher John Tkacik have described the appointment of Wu, who will replace outgoing representative David Lee (李大維), as a "smart choice" by Chen.
Several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members have heralded Wu's appointment as an achievement for the DPP government. They said that this would finally put an end to taunts from the pan-blue camp that the DPP has no capable members in the field of foreign affairs.
Wu's predecessors Chien-jen (
Wu's uncle, former senior presidential adviser and steadfast pro-independence advocate Wu Li-pei (
"Actually, there are many officials who are qualified for this important office, but there are few who could obtain Wu's level of trust, which makes him the best candidate for this position among the DPP's top brass," said Yu Pen-li (尤本立), a former diplomat who worked in Washington when Cheng served as representative.
Wu, who likes to wear bright ties pinned with a tie bar, is known for his easy smile and sometimes stumbling over his words in his excitement to explain cross-strait policies to reporters or legislators. People who know Wu describe him as cordial and courteous, and say he speaks English fluently.
"I am quite impressed with Wu's humble attitude and his ability to explain cross-strait policies," Yu said.
As head of the Mainland Affairs Council, Wu has visited the US at least twice a year to communicate with officials and think tanks about Taiwan's cross-strait policies. US officials and members of Congress in charge of Asia-Pacific affairs all seem to get along well with Wu.
Wu has been interviewed by several US TV networks while visiting the US, including C-SPAN, a network which televises sessions of Congress.
He is meticulous about what he says, and his eloquence and quick wit has drawn praise from many foreign visitors and local legislators.
"I think Wu will be an excellent buffer to reduce friction between the US and the DPP government," said Hsu Yung-ming (
Hsu said Wu's appointment indicated that the US government accepted the DPP government, which Hsu interpreted as "progress" in bilateral relations.
When visiting the US, Wu told the representative offices there not to bother with the flowers and gifts that they usually prepare for visiting officials, saying it was unnecessary and overelaborate, Hsu said.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS