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. \nPowell 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. \nDuring 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. \nAccording 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. \nReporters 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. \nPowell 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. \nResponding 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. \n TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG AND ETHAN HARKNESS
Citigroup Inc plans to exit retail banking in 13 markets across Asia, and the region of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The bank would instead operate its consumer-banking franchise in both regions from four wealth centers in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and London, it said yesterday in a statement. The move is part of an ongoing review of the company’s strategy by chief executive officer Jane Fraser, who took over last month. “This positions us to capture the strong growth and attractive returns the wealth-management business offers through these important hubs,” Fraser said. Citigroup is to exit its consumer
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‘IDEAL FIT’: A report on Sunday said that the Canadian government threatened to pull its support and funding from the HFX if the award was given to the president The government would respect the decision of the organizer of the John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service on whether it plans to award a prize to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. The statement was issued after US Web site Politico reported a day earlier that the Canadian government had warned the Halifax International Security Forum (HFX) not to give the award to Tsai for fear of provoking Beijing. “The ministry believes that if the Halifax International Security Forum confers the prize upon President Tsai, it would be an affirmation and honor for both
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