President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday stressed the “six assurances” issued by the US government and said the government will continue arms procurements with the US to safeguard national security.
“Although cross-strait developments have reached their most peaceful stage in 64 years, it does not mean we do not face national security threats. We will continue to purchase arms from the US,” he said during a visit to Kinmen.
Ma’s comments came amid Chinese media reports that the US has given a “positive response” to a Chinese government proposal to discuss such arms sales with Beijing.
PHOTO: AFP / Taiwan Presidential Office
The president reiterated the “six assurances,” under which the US government promised not to set a date for the termination of arms sales to Taiwan, nor to hold prior consultation with China regarding such arms sales, and said the US has denied the Chinese media reports.
Washington has clarified that US-China working groups would be set up to deal with issues of mutual concern, but said that arms sales to Taiwan are not set to be covered, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Ma made the remarks while visiting Kinmen to attend a ceremony marking the 55th anniversary of an artillery battle between then Republic of China military and the People’s Republic of China.
The president rang a peace bell at a memorial service for soldiers and civilians killed in the conflict, that began on Aug. 23, 1958.
Later yesterday while meeting members of the US Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Ma thanked the US for its firm stance on arms procurement deals with Taiwan, and reiterated that his administration will continue purchasing arms from the US to maintain Taiwan’s national defense capabilities.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
RSS