Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Kau (高英茂) said yesterday it is almost impossible for Taiwan to send troops to Iraq because the deployment would unavoidably touch on sensitive international issues and involve the UN.
William Triplett's article "Send in the (Taiwan) Marines" in the US magazine Human Events triggered heated discussions in the legislature's Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee, where legislators expressed diverse opinions on the idea of being militarily engaged in Iraq.
On May 20, two pro-Taiwan US House members introduced a resolution calling on US President George W. Bush to ask Taiwan to deploy marines to Iraq.
Kau said during the committee's question-and-answer session that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) held a meeting on May 3 to discuss Triplett's proposal.
The meeting concluded it is impossible to carry out the proposal, Kau said.
Participants in the meeting, which was hosted by MOFA's Research and Planning Board, included retired Admiral Nelson Ku (
Kau said the meeting was a routine one to review international news. As Triplett's article was published on April 27, it was natural to include it in the review, he said.
"It will take a long time for the [US] resolution to be passed," said Kau, adding that some officials and media outlets have overreacted to the proposal.
Taiwan has a history of offering humanitarian aid in Afghanistan and Iraq, but whether it should expand its involvement depends on developments in these areas, Kau said.
"We are not doing everything the US bids us to do," Kau said.
Kau said the ministry did not participate in drafting the resolution put forth by Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher, co-chairman of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, and Republican Representative Jim Ryun, also a member of the Taiwan Caucus.
The US representatives did not inform the ministry of the resolution ahead of introducing it, nor did they have Taiwanese and US officials discuss any deployment, Kau said.
PFP Legislator Tsai Chung-han (
However, DPP Legislator Trong Tsai (
Recalling the US dispatching aircraft carriers to protect Taiwan amid high cross-strait tensions, Trong Tsai said: "Without US help, Taiwan would have been in China's grasp long ago."
"Doing so will benefit Taiwan in the long run," he said, adding that sending marines to Iraq would mark the start of another phase of Taiwan-US military cooperation.
Also See Story:
Rumors surround `troops to Iraq' plan
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
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
RSS