The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus said yesterday the government should pay attention to political moves made by officials from Taiwan’s diplomatic allies during the Beijing Olympic Games next month.
The Taipei Times’ sister newspaper, the Chinese-language Liberty Times, reported yesterday that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has not yet compiled a list of government officials from diplomatic allies that will be attending the Games.
DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) yesterday told a press conference at the legislature that China would likely use the Olympics to entice allies away from Taiwan, and that MOFA should try to prevent this and take control of the situation.
He said in the past China has taken every chance it gets to attract Taiwan’s allies.
Lai said that some of the allies maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan because they oppose communism and China’s violation of human rights, but also said that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) were taking an approach of reconciliation toward China, which could alienate Taiwan’s allies.
DPP Legislator Twu Shiing-Jer (�?�) urged the government to allow Taiwan’s Olympic team to bring the country’s flag to Beijing, highlighting Taiwan as a sovereign country.
Taiwanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) said yesterday that some of the leaders of countries that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan want to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
The leaders said they wanted to attend in the name of sport and that their attendance would not affect their relations with Taiwan, Ou said.
On how many of these leaders would be attending the opening ceremony, Ou said that the ministry was still unable to give a number because many of these leaders were undecided.
Ou said that he did not think China would use invitations to the opening ceremony as a way to entice Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.
Ou said that friendly and stable relations are the most important factor for countries that have diplomatic ties with each other.
Relations between two countries do not just change because one country attends the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, he said, adding that if relations did change, that would mean relations were not stable.
At present, Taiwan’s diplomatic relations with these countries is very stable and will not change just because the leaders of these nations go to see the opening ceremony, he said.
What is most important is that these countries tell Taiwan clearly that they are going in the name of sport, that their visits have nothing to do with politics and that their visits will not affect their friendly, bilateral relations with Taiwan, Ou said.
When asked by reporters about what the ministry would do if Taiwan’s athletes suffered oppression from the Chinese government, Ou said this would not happen because the Olympic Games has been held many times and there is an established way of doing things with a set of rules in place.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS