US President George W. Bush's administration has a good understanding of what President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen Chien-jen (
The premier is expected to arrive in the US on Dec. 7 for a four-day trip during which he will meet Bush and other top officials.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, meanwhile, confirmed speculation that Taiwan is likely to be a major topic of conversation during the Wen visit.
"You can be absolutely sure that we will be prepared to discuss Taiwan," he told reporters at the State Department.
"As we always do, we reaffirm to our Chinese guests that our `one China' policy remains our policy, founded on the three communiques, as well as the Taiwan Relations Act. And we do not support independence for Taiwan," he said.
"And that's the very clear US policy, which we look forward to reaffirming again when Mr. Wen arrives,"Powell said.
Chen Chien-jen told reporters that he thinks the Bush administration "understands us better than before. When we first talked about a referendum and a new constitution, some of them did express concerns. Now, I thing they understand what we meant, or what we mean now."
While the administration never told him that it was annoyed at some policies that President Chen has announced, "they did express some concerns about what a referendum means, what areas it is going to cover, and what does a new constitution mean," he said.
"We explained it quite extensively, comprehensively and in depth, and I think now they understand much better that it's part of democratization," he said.
The administration has not changed its policy toward Taiwan, Chen Chien-jen said.
"I haven't seen any particular change," he said.
He cited comments last week by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Randall Schriver, which were repeated on Tuesday by Powell.
The envoy described Taiwan-US relations as "pretty good, very good, too."
He took issue with remarks by Wen in an interview with The Washington Post on Sunday in which he called on Washington to deter Taiwan's referendum and constitution plans and warned that Beijing "would pay any price" to prevent Taiwan from splitting from China.
Wen's comments "reflect the PRC's official position," the envoy said.
"It doesn't mean that his understanding of what's going on in Taiwan is correct," he said.
On the escalating war threats coming out of Beijing over the past week or so, Chen Chien-jen called them a "serious matter" but said that President Chen and his aides have handled the situation "very carefully."
"This is why the president has repeatedly emphasized the `four noes, one without' position. He wants to make sure that the people on the other side of the Taiwan Strait understand why and to what extent we're going to have a referendum and a new constitution," the diplomat said.
He also announced that a national security delegation from Taiwan would be visiting Washington next month for talks with US officials, but did not give further details.
He also defended American Institute in Taiwan Chairwoman Therese Shaheen against criticism in Taiwan of her remarks that Taipei's concern with submarine purchases was "silly" and other comments made in recent weeks.
"We all know that Therese Shaheen is a very outgoing lady, very friendly, very warm and sometimes, on the spur of the moment, she talks about things in a very abbreviated form. But if you read the transcript [of the `silly' comments] carefully, she told me that she did not mean some of the interpretations that we heard," the envoy said.
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
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘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)