US President George W. Bush will attend an October summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Shanghai as planned despite the catastrophic terrorist attacks on the US, a top Chinese official said yesterday.
Bush told Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
"After the conversation between the Chinese and US presidents after the attack, President George W. Bush confirmed that he will attend as planned the October event, the APEC informal meeting in Shanghai," Wang said.
A US embassy spokesman said the mission had not been informed of any change in Bush's plans to visit China for the event, which is scheduled to feature his first meeting with Jiang.
Nineteen other leaders from around the region are due to attend. The absence of top US leaders at key APEC events in recent years has upset some Asian governments.
Former president Bill Clinton skipped two APEC summits -- one in Osaka, Japan in 1996 due to a domestic budget crisis, and a 1998 summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia because of a crisis in Iraq.
Many perceived his no-show in Osaka as a snub to Asia and to Japan, and the Philippines expressed dismay after Clinton backed out of the Kuala Lumpur summit, saying his presence would have shown greater US commitment to the region.
In the wake of Tuesday's attacks and the closure of all US airports, China posted sentries to guard US airliners grounded at Shanghai airport and put a team of 150 commandos on alert to respond to any emergency, police said yesterday.
Wang gave assurances of tight security at the October APEC meeting.
"The relevant organizing committees for the APEC informal leaders' meeting to be held in Shanghai have always paid the highest attention to the issue of security," he said.
"We will try our best to provide security guarantees," he said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source