Independent presidential candidate James Soong (
Meeting with Soong yesterday, AIT chairman Richard Bush reportedly said the US administration would abide by the Taiwan Relations Act, and provide Taiwan with appropriate defense capability.
The meeting was the first of several visits that Bush will be paying Taiwan's presidential candidates.
After a breakfast meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Chien-jen (
Bush made no remarks after the meeting, preferring to save them until the end of his visit.
Soong told reporters he had explained to Bush that Taiwanese find unification unacceptable at this point, and that any change in the status quo should be in accordance with the will of the people of Taiwan.
When asked about president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) two-states model, Soong said: "The Republic of China is an independent sovereignty," and not a local government of the People's Republic of China.
On the same day, KMT legislator Yang Chi-hsiung (
Yang said Soong Chen-yuan (
Yang questioned whether Soong had given his son the money for investment, and if so, whether he had paid any gift tax.
In response, Soong challenged Yang to come up with concrete evidence of any alleged illegal transactions.
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung