Taiwan is a sovereign country with national and local leaders directly elected by its people, former South Korean president Kim Young-sam said yesterday.
Accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山), Kim held his first press conference since arriving in Taipei on Monday.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"Taiwan has a 23-million strong population. Its people elect the president, legislators and local governors. Taiwan is a sovereign nation," Kim told reporters at the Grand Hotel.
"Under the current circumstances, South Korea must develop its relations with China. However, Taiwan's existence is a fact that cannot be ignored," Kim said.
"Taiwan and South Korea should properly nurture bilateral political and economic ties," he said.
Chinese officials had endeavored to stop Kim from making the eight-day trip to Taiwan. They managed to persuade some of Kim's close friends to ask him not to visit Taipei and dispatched an official to his house to give him "gifts."
Kim, who was in Japan when the Chinese official visited his house, said the official explained Beijing's position on his Taiwan visit to his secretary.
"The official said China would like to invite me for a visit. He said I could meet with anyone I wanted to. Chinese officials approached me through various channels, but I was unmoved," Kim said through an interpreter.
Asked whether he was worried his trip to Taiwan would prompt condemnation from China, Kim said that for the moment he had no need to visit Beijing.
"In the future, if circumstances allow, I will visit China. Just see how things evolve," he said.
President Chen Shui-bian (
Kim, who met with former Chinese president Jiang Zemin (
Jiang once expressed sympathy concerning the difficulties South Korea faced owing to its unresolved reunification problem with North Korea.
"China has its reunification problem, too," Kim quoted Jiang as saying.
"I don't think President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) Taiwan policy would be much different from Jiang's. I believe countries should keep in contact through dialogues," he said.
"Taiwan plays a significant role in Northeast Asia and the US should guard the safety of Taiwan," Kim said.
Kim, who visited the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters after the press conference, said the Taiwanese people do not need to overreact to Powell's remarks.
"Politicians sometimes made mistakes. This is inevitable. Politics cannot deny the reality. China never ruled over Taiwan. For the moment, China would not invade Taiwan because Taiwan is capable of defending itself," he said.
Kim also said he believed the DPP would perform brilliantly in the coming legislative elections.
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS