The case of a Taiwanese military officer spying for China is not likely to affect communications and dialogue between Taiwan and the US, Taiwan’s deputy representative in Washington said yesterday.
Over the years, Taiwan and the US have built mutual trust, which will not be affected by the recent espionage case, Leo Lee (李澄然) said at a routine news briefing.
He was referring to the case of General Lo Hsien-che (羅賢哲), who has been detained on charges of espionage, following searches of his residence and office on Jan. 25. The 51-year-old one-star general is one of the highest-ranking military officials to have been accused of spying for China in more than two decades.
Lo reportedly had access to a joint Taiwan-US military communications project known as Po Sheng, which gave rise to concern that the espionage case could affect Taiwan’s military trust and cooperation with the US and even its procurement of US-built weapons.
However, Lee said Lo’s alleged act of betrayal is not expected to hinder US arms sales to Taiwan, a view that US authorities also expressed after the case broke.
Asked when routine talks under the Taiwan-US Trade and -Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), signed in September 1994, are likely to resume, Lee said the two sides are in the process of discussing relevant matters.
He stressed that both sides have agreed to resume bilateral talks under the TIFA, which provides an official framework for Taiwan-US dialogue on trade and economic issues in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
However, the two countries have not held any TIFA talks since 2007, chiefly because of a conflict over Taiwan’s ban on US beef imports over mad cow disease concerns.
As Taiwan has opened its market wider to US beef since late 2009, the two sides were scheduled to resume TIFA talks in Taipei in late last month, but the US decided to postpone the talks indefinitely after some US beef products were pulled from the market because they were found to contain residue of an animal muscle-growth drug.
Lee said the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Department of Health were weighing how to resolve the issue and he believes that both agencies are moving in the right direction.
However, the diplomat declined to comment as to whether Taiwan would employ the minimum residual level to be announced by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
Existing law bans the use of any animal feed additives, such as ractopamine, which promotes leanness in pork and beef, in Taiwan.
The US has urged Taiwan to follow in the footsteps of other countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand and set an acceptable minimum residual level for ractopamine in pork and beef.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS