The head of an international delegation of electoral observers yesterday said remarks by a visiting former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) director concerning today’s presidential election were “inexcusable” and were contrary to US commitments to Taiwan’s democracy.
Frank Murkowski, head of the international delegation for the International Committee for Fair Elections in Taiwan (ICFET), called a press conference after former AIT director Douglas Paal strongly endorsed in a TV interview the so-called “1992 consensus” adopted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), while calling the “Taiwan consensus” proposed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) “impractical.”
Paal, who was invited by the government-affiliated Prospect Foundation to lead a delegation of monitors, also raised doubts about Tsai’s ability to ensure stability across the Taiwan Strait and insinuated that Washington was apprehensive about a DPP victory in the election.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
While describing the democratic process in Taiwan as “orderly” and “energetic,” Murkowski said the past two days had seen the emergence of “surprising activity.”
“I take strong issue with any inference of US policy favoring any candidate or party,” the former US senator told the press conference.
“That is simply not the case,” he said, adding that AIT Director William Stanton had reiterated to him by telephone yesterday that the AIT remained neutral in the election, while US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell has also made comments reaffirming Washington’s neutrality.
Murkowski said the comments by Paal, now vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, were his own and that to suggest they reflected Washington’s view was inappropriate.
On Paal’s contention that if Tsai were elected the US would be “massively and quickly engaged to try to help her come to a formula that would preserve [cross-strait] peace and stability,” Murkowski said the remarks were “condescending” and that Tsai was a seasoned politician who was “perfectly capable to find a solution” to relations with Beijing.
Murkowski also dismissed as false Paal’s suggestion that a “leak” to the Financial Times by a senior US official raising concerns about Tsai’s ability to ensure peace across the Strait was a common view in Washington.
“This is editorializing to say the least,” Murkowski said, also taking exception with Paal’s reference to Tsai’s proposed “Taiwan consensus” as “too vague” to make Washington comfortable.
“I can assure you that Washington is never comfortable with anything,” the 78-year-old former senator said.
The “Taiwan consensus” represents an effort by Taiwanese to determine their future by democratic means, he said, adding that while the “1992 consensus” might have made sense in 1992, “things change.”
Paal’s comments were “careless” and “inexcusable,” he said, adding that it “challenges credulity [that Paal would presume] to speak for my government and the vast majority of Americans who have vast admiration for Taiwan’s democracy.”
They could also raise fears among Taiwanese voters over Washington’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act or Beijing’s reaction to the vote, he said.
Murkowski reiterated the ICFET’s mandate as an impartial body that does not favor any party or candidate, and raised issues with the delegation led by Paal, saying it was “quite contrary to the mission of a group that does not support any party.
‘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
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
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
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