The two Taiwanese agents conducting covert meetings with former US State Department official Donald Keyser have done nothing illegal, and Taipei-Washington ties will not be affected by the furor surrounding Keyser's arrest, Minster of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
The minister dismissed media reports that he made a rushed trip to the US to "put out fires" sparked by allegations that Keyser, former principle deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs, passed US government documents to Taiwanese intelligence agents and concealed a trip to Taiwan.
Chen arrived at Dulles International Airport in Virginia yesterday after wrapping up a trip to Taiwan's ally Grenada, which was devastated by Hurricane Ivan.
The minister was originally scheduled to preside over several routine meetings with Taiwanese diplomats in the US at the end of this month. He flew to Grenada a day after news of Keyser's arrest broke out.
Chen told reporters at Dulles that the purpose of his US trip was to meet with Taiwanese diplomats.
"I am not here to handle Keyser's case and have no plan to meet with the two Taiwanese agents," he said.
The routine meetings will take place tomorrow and Friday in Baltimore, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the question-and-answer session in the legislature yesterday, Premier Yu Shyi-kun said that according to one of Keyser's close friends, Keyser has the habit of preparing talking points for people he meets with, and usually puts discussion topics in envelopes.
"It is hard to judge whether Keyser has passed discussion topics or classified information to the Taiwanese agents," Yu added.
Stressing that the agents had no intention of violating US laws, the premier promised that the country will cooperate with the US in handling the case.
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Kau (
The ministry is not directly involved in the National Security Bureau's (NSB) intelligence collecting job, but the two agencies shall strengthen communication about their work, Kau said.
Meanwhile, Chris Cockel, husband of Isabella Cheng (
Cockel, the China Post's correspondent in Washington, expressed frustration over the media's rampant insinuations that the NSB used his wife as bait to get information from Keyser and that Cheng had an affair with the former US official.
Cockel and Cheng were married in July, and the newlyweds recently returned from their honeymoon. In his letter, Cockel asked reporters to show some consideration for him and his wife.
He said many of the reports about Cheng and Keyser were incorrect. The reports have put some people's lives, families and careers in danger, Cockel wrote, without elaborating.
Cockel pleaded with reporters to think about possible consequences their reports might have and to check facts before writing stories.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
African swine fever was confirmed at a pig farm in Taichung, the Ministry of Agriculture said today, prompting a five-day nationwide ban on transporting and slaughtering pigs, and marking the loss of Taiwan’s status as the only Asian nation free of all three major swine diseases. The ministry held a news conference today confirming that the virus was detected at a farm in Wuci District (梧棲) yesterday evening. Authorities preemptively culled 195 pigs at the farm at about 3am and disinfected the entire site to prevent the disease from spreading, the ministry said. Authorities also set up a 3km-radius control zone
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
RSS