US Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday told Chinese-language media that he will not discuss US arms sales to Taiwan with Chinese leaders during his upcoming visit to Beijing. He also stressed that the US arms sales to Taiwan aim at helping the island to defend itself, and that the sales will not threaten China.
Powell arrived in Tokyo yesterday and will flight to Beijing later today. He is also scheduled to attend Tuesday's inauguration of South Korean President-elect Roh Moo-hyun in Seoul.
During his visit to Beijing, he will meet Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民), Vice President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan (唐家璇) and other high-ranking officials to exchange opinions on the North Korea issue.
According to Powell, Jiang himself firmly supported US President George W. Bush's idea of keeping the two Koreas a "non-nuclear peninsula" during their previous meeting in Texas. Therefore, the US hopes that China can use its influence to achieve this goal in order to resolve the current crisis.
Reporters asked whether China would try to exchange cooperation on the North Korea problem for reduced US arms sales to Taiwan. Powell emphasized that he did not expect these questions would be discussed on this trip.
Powell said the US completely understands Chinese concern about the arms-sales issue and that he had used every opportunity to remind Chinese officials that though the US has made promises regarding the one-China policy and the three communiques, it also has responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act. When selling arms to Taiwan, the US considers all factors, he said.
Responding to reporter's questions about when the US will begin the war on Iraq, Powell refused to reply directly. Instead he said that the peace sought by the US is the way to avoid war, but if Saddam Hussein refuses to disarm, military action may be unavoidable.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG AND ETHAN HARKNESS
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