The recent advertisement placed by Senior Adviser to the President Koo Kwang-ming (
Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidential Office James Huang (黃志芳) said Koo's ads "do not represent the government's stance" and that "the Presidential Office had no prior knowledge of them."
Huang made the remarks yesterday in response to media queries about Koo's full-page advertisements, which appeared in Monday's Washington Post, the New York Times and the Taipei Times on Tuesday.
The 2,000-word advertisement, entitled "US adherence to one China policy only benefits communist dictators: Let Taiwan speak out for a lasting peace," urges the US government to face political reality concerning Taiwan and to reassess its "one China" policy.
In the ads, Koo said the US "one China" policy, based on the 1972 Shanghai Communique, no longer fits the political realities in Taiwan and said that he hopes the US government can reassess its "one China" policy in view of Taiwan's changing public opinions.
In the ads, the statement concluded with Koo's signature, and included his title as senior presidential adviser.
Huang also spoke about media reports that said US deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs Randall Shriver suggested the Presidential Office give a clarification about Koo's ads and Taiwan's position.
Koo, who is currently on a trip overseas, told CNA on Tuesday in Washington that the ads he placed in newspapers had nothing to do with the government.
"I paid for the ads myself, and the Taiwanese government knew nothing about it in advance," Koo, a long-term advocate for Taiwan's independence, was reported to have said.
Meanwhile, in related news, President Chen Shui-bian (
"Before my term is up in 2008, there will be no problems across the Taiwan Strait, because Taiwan will not make any provocation. I believe peace can be assured across the Taiwan Strait, and no war will take place," Chen said.
Chen made the remarks while receiving the head of Morgan Stanley's Worldwide Investment Bank, Terry Meguid, at the Presidential Office.
Acknowledging the high expectations for his National Day speech, slated for Oct. 10, Chen yesterday reiterated the content of his Double Ten Day speech will be "positive and constructive" and ease cross-strait tensions.
Chen also told Meguid that the government was making an important effort in trying to create a good investment environment and attract foreign investors' interest.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)