The US has announced that it will send a four-member official delegation to attend President Chen Shui-bian's (
In addition to congressman James Leach, the chairman of the Asia and the Pacific subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee, who had been earlier announced as the leader, the delegation contains a former congressman and former State Department official under the Reagan administration, as well as American Institute in Taiwan Director Douglas Paal.
Joining Leach and Paal will be Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski, who was a leading Taiwan supporter in the Senate, which he left in 2002 after 22 years in Washington, and William Brown, a board member and interim chairman of AIT and former deputy assistant secretary of state for Asia from 1983 to 1985.
There had been speculation that more congressmen and senators would be part of the group, but the inauguration coincides with a crucial period in Congress, a day in which key votes are expected in advance of the lawmakers' weeklong recess for Memorial Day.
The fact that Leach is the head of the delegation contrasts with president Chen's first inauguration in 2000, when no sitting members of Congress attended.
The naming of the delegation comes at a time when Washington has been deeply concerned about Chen's plans for his second term, in the wake of US President George W. Bush's rebuke of Chen last December for actions that could change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
The Bush administration is concerned that Chen's reform program could alienate China and raise the specter of a move toward independence, which Washington fears could involve it in an eventual war with China. As a result, Washington-Taipei relations have cooled significantly.
US officials are also worried about what Chen will say in his inaugural address, which Taipei is expected to share with Washington officials before it is delivered.
In addition to the official Washington delegation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has put together a larger private group, consisting of three former AIT chairmen and eight prominent US Taiwan academics.
That delegation will include former AIT heads Richard Bush, Nat Belocchi and David Laux, as well as a diverse group of specialists in Chinese and Taiwan affairs.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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