Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Hu said Beijing wouldn't tolerate moves by the self-ruled nation toward formal independence and appealed to Washington to avoid sending the "wrong signal" to its government.
His comments came a day after his predecessor, Jiang Zemin (
PHOTO: REUTERS
Hu affirmed Beijing's promise to pursue peaceful unification with Taiwan, which has been autonomously ruled since 1949.
"But China shows no tolerance to the Taiwan independence," the official Xinhua News Agency paraphrased the Chinese president as telling Rice during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People, the seat of China's legislature. It said the country is "the key to sound and stable development" of US-Chinese relations.
Rice, who was on a three-nation Asian tour, visited Beijing to seek Chinese support for Washington's demand that North Korea give up nuclear weapons development, as well as other issues including Iraq.
Rice's talks in Beijing are "helpful for you to get a comprehensive understanding about ... our serious concern over the question of Taiwan," Hu told her.
Hu appealed to the administration of US President George W. Bush to avoid sending the "wrong signal" to Taiwan, Xinhua said.
China says it worries that US support is encouraging activists who want to make Taiwan's de facto independence permanent -- a step that Beijing says could lead to war.
Xinhua said Hu called on Washington to "honor its commitments" -- a reference to US pledges made in the 1980s that include a promise to reduce and eventually end arms sales to Taiwan.
US officials had no immediate comment on the talks yesterday.
On Thursday, Rice affirmed the "one-China policy," which doesn't support Taiwan independence, according to an official traveling with her, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said she repeated Bush's opposition to any unilateral change in Taiwan's status.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique