NATO ambassadors were trying to heal a widening rift between the US and three NATO allies that could impede US President George W. Bush's chances of gaining support at the UN for war as an option to disarm Iraq.
France, Germany and Belgium jointly vetoed on Monday a US-backed measure to authorize NATO to make plans to protect Turkey if Iraq attacks it. Russia then joined France and Germany in demanding strengthened weapons inspections in Iraq, which the Bush administration considers virtually useless.
"I am disappointed that France would block NATO from helping a country like Turkey prepare," Bush said. "I don't understand that decision. It affects the alliance in a negative way."
France's stand on Turkey could signal its steadfast opposition or even a threatened veto to a US-backed resolution at the UN that would authorize force to disarm Iraq.
In Brussels yesterday, NATO tried to surmount the standoff -- one of the worst crises in its 53-year history. A second emergency meeting of the alliance's decision making North Atlantic Council was postponed for five hours while diplomats held "intensive informal negotiations" to resolve the deadlock, said a NATO official speaking on condition of anonymity.
For the leaders of France, Germany and Belgium, equipping Turkey with anti-missile defenses, radar and other military equipment sends the wrong signal in the midst of weapons inspections.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Colin Powell planned to testify yesterday on Capitol Hill to try to inspire more support from Congress for the war option. His detailed indictment of Iraq as a deceptive stockpiler of weapons of mass destruction at the UN Security Council last week won instant praise from members of Congress, but skepticism about going to war remains strong.
At the UN Security Council, the US began consultations with other countries on a new resolution designed to strengthen Bush's hand if he should decide to go to war.
After meeting at the White House with Bush and other officials on Monday, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia, a solid Washington supporter, said: "Australia does not believe all of the heavy lifting should be done by the United States and the United Kingdom alone."
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)