Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) began a whirlwind two-day visit to Washington on Tuesday with a blowup over human rights in a meeting with members of the House of Representatives, an extensive rehashing of Beijing's Taiwan policy with key senators and a dinner meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell that was expected to be little more than a gala get-acquainted session.
Meanwhile, senior administration officials, discussing the Hu visit, said that President George W. Bush will point out that while the US is committed to protecting Taiwan, arms sales to Taiwan hinge on the level of the Chinese military threat to Taiwan. When the threat subsides, so will the military relationship between Washington and Taiwan, the officials said.
Hu arrived in Washington late Tuesday morning from New York City and quickly engaged in meetings on Capitol Hill with members of the Senate and the House.
In a 40-minute meeting with more than a dozen key senators, Taiwan was the "major issue" Hu raised, according to Senator Sam Brownback, a member or the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"It was basically the standard line that he put forward, and that was his major issue raised," Brownback said of the session headed by majority leader Thomas Daschle and minority leader Trent Lott.
While the question of US weapons sales did not come up, Brownback said, the congressmen stressed that "we do not want the PRC to be threatening Taiwan. Taiwan should be allowed to develop as it sees fit," he said.
There was little time for the lawmakers to respond to Hu's comments, Brownback said. "People were willing to listen, but it's pretty much standard party line that he put forward, the party line we've heard for years," said Brownback, who called Hu an "impressive man."
Things turned ugly on the other side of the Capitol as Hu met a half dozen house members, headed by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who pressed Hu on human rights.
Minority whip Nancy Pelosi, and other House human rights leaders tried unsuccessfully to present Hu with letters from groups of congressmen protesting the detention of political prisoners and Tibetan leaders. Hu silently refused to accept the letters, the congressmen said, setting up a tense confrontation.
"They completely shut us down when the subject of human rights came up," Pelosi said.
"This is an indictment of their dictatorship," Representative Christopher Smith said.
"This will reverberate throughout the halls of Congress," said Representative Tom Lantos, head of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.
Meanwhile, senior administration officials said that a resumption of cross-strait dialogue is "an important first step toward the eventual resolution" of cross-strait issues.
"The president has consistently said that what we seek is the peaceful solution of the differences between the people on the two sides of the Strait," senior officials told reporters during a briefing on the Hu visit. "We do not want to see provocation from either side of the Strait."
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique