Deputy Chief of the General Staff Admiral Fei Hung-po (費鴻波) yesterday, on the eve of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration, confirmed that the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier is patrolling the western Pacific Ocean between Japan and the Philippines, but added that the patrol was part of annual US Navy exercises.
"I cannot say that the US Navy does this [patrolling areas near Taiwan's territorial waters] for no reason," Fei said.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"However, I cannot comment on this on behalf of the US Navy," he said.
Fei made the remarks when answering a request by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tang Huo-sheng (
Fei urged the public to stay calm in the light of the carrier's presence and the US Air Force deploying B-52 bombers in Guam.
"Whatever they [US Navy and Air Force] did, they were merely trying to help retain peace across the Taiwan Strait. We do not have to panic," the admiral said.
Lawmakers yesterday also voiced their concern in the legislature about stability in the Taiwan Strait during Chen's inauguration, in the wake of China's threatening statement on Sunday that accused Chen of paving the way for Taiwan independence and vowing to crush any such attempt.
People First Party (PFP) Legislator Chao Liang-yen (趙良燕) asked Fei whether the Kitty Hawk's activities in the area could be linked to the presidential inauguration. Fei said that the two events were in no way related.
"According to our communications with the US Navy, the Kitty Hawk annually visits Hong Kong during the first six months of the year and Singapore or Australia during the remaining six months of the same year.
"We shall not comment on this," Fei said.
He confirmed that the aircraft carrier's activities and the deployment of the B-52 bombers in Guam will definitely help and encourage Taiwan to maintain peace in the area.
Fei also said that high-ranking military officials "cannot guarantee that China will not challenge Taiwan with unusual military activities during the inauguration on May 20 [today]," but added that he had no information suggesting that this would happen.
"Our regular military exercises remain unchanged and everything is on the right track. We do not have to panic," Fei said.
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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