Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) spent a grueling day in Washington Thursday trying to clarify President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) "one country on each side of the Strait," statement and convince the city's Taiwan watchers that the government's cross-strait policy had not changed.
While she appeared to have convinced many of the dozens of officials, congressional staffers and think-tank opinion makers she spoke with, some doubts remained.
The Capitol hill staffers she lunched with at a tony restaurant near the Capitol appeared less than pleased with her explanation of what exactly Chen said in his teleconference speech to an overseas pro-independence group in Tokyo, and with the English translation, sources say.
"The explanation in English was not compelling," one attendee told the Taipei Times.
The staffers reportedly tried unsuccessfully to find out what the original remarks were, and what they meant, during the two-hour closed-door session, focusing mainly on Chen's one-side-two-countries remarks.
Tsai told the staffers the purpose of Chen's speech was to "reconcile the government's position on the future of Taiwan with the party's position" now that he is DPP chairman.
"She said a referendum was entirely consistent with what his formulation was before, which is that he wouldn't call for a referendum if China's intentions were peaceful.
"His view was that as president he couldn't make a decision for the rest of the people of Taiwan. It would have be a collective decision on Taiwan's future.
She referred back to a 1999 DPP party resolution that referred to Taiwan as a country and said that "collective concurrence" would be needed to change the status quo, an attendee said. She also referred to this week's MAC statement that said a referendum would be called only if China used force or tried to force a "one-China-two-systems"formula on Taiwan.
Earlier, Tsai met with a cross-section of scholars and others who help formulate Washington's China policy, and seemed to be more successful in convincing them that the policy has not changed, during a two-hour session at the Brookings Institution.
Asked how the session went, Tsai said only, "I think it's fine."
"The fundamental point that she was making was that there was not policy change here," said Bob Grealy, an Asia analyst for the financial firm of J. P. Morgan Chase after the session.
Chen's position, Tsai told the group, "was the position that the party has always had, and it was not an issue of a referendum on independence, it's a referendum on the issue of sovereignty, and [her explanation] took the sting out of what looked like a radical departure," he said.
Grealy also said Tsai's explanations would ease the international business community's concerns over Chen's remarks.
"I came away from that saying I am not concerned. And I don't think the business community will be concerned," he said, noting the Taiwan stock market's rapid recovery after an initial plunge.
Grealy said the audience reaction to Tsai was "very positive."
Former American Institute in Taiwan director Richard Bush, now the head of Brookings' Northeast Asia program, called the session a "very good exchange" and an "example of good communication," but refused to give details.
Arthur Waldron, the head of Asia programs for the American Enterprise Institute, hinted at the difficulty Tsai must have had during the meeting, saying "it's a very difficult mission she has."
Tsai has extended her visit, which originally was to have lasted only two days, through the weekend.
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