President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday congratulated US Pres-ident George W. Bush on his re-election and pledged to seek closer cooperation with the Bush administration in promoting regional peace and stability.
Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said at a Presidential Office press conference that immediately after the result of the US presidential election had been determined, Chen and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) sent messages to Bush and US Vice President Dick Cheney congratulating them on their re-election and to the American people on the success of the election.
Chen said in the message that the governments and peoples of Taiwan and the US had close ties and shared the values of democracy and human rights.
"Based on the two countries' shared values and based on existing foundations, [Taiwan] is willing to work together [with the US] to oppose terrorism, restrict the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, promote peace and deliver humanitarian aid," the message said.
"Taiwan and the US are mem-bers of the Asia-Pacific region, and the Republic of China government is willing to cooperate with the US government on an ongoing basis to safeguard regional peace and stability, while actively seeking dialogue with China to foster prospects for peaceful cross-strait relations," it said.
Su then urged Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) to learn some democratic manners from Democratic presidential nominee Senator John Kerry.
Lien filed an annulment suit challenging the result and encouraged weeks of protests staged in view of the Presidential Office.
"Look at the US and reflect on our situation," Su said. "Our 23 million compatriots must have sighed with emotion to see how Al Gore, the US presidential candidate four years ago, and Kerry yesterday, presented themselves so gracefully in defeat to uphold the democratic system and their responsibilities to the country and the people."
In contrast, Su said, Lien had "set a bad example for a democratic society" by "running in the election yet being unwilling to concede defeat, by filing a lawsuit yet distrusting the court and criticizing the [process] before the court renders its verdict."
Su was referring to remarks made by Lien on Wednesday during a KMT Central Standing Committee meeting, in which he accused Chen of fraud and said a person like this deserved to be killed.
"Lien's behavior leads one to conclude that he is a sore loser who has let his personal feelings bring about disturbances in Taiwan from March 20 until now," Su said.
Su also urged Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
AGING: As of last month, people aged 65 or older accounted for 20.06 percent of the total population and the number of couples who got married fell by 18,685 from 2024 Taiwan has surpassed South Korea as the country least willing to have children, with an annual crude birthrate of 4.62 per 1,000 people, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday. The nation was previously ranked the second-lowest country in terms of total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. However, South Korea’s fertility rate began to recover from 2023, with total fertility rate rising from 0.72 and estimated to reach 0.82 to 0.85 by last year, and the crude birthrate projected at 6.7 per 1,000 people. Japan’s crude birthrate was projected to fall below six,
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
US President Donald Trump in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday said that “it’s up to” Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be “very unhappy” with a change in the “status quo.” “He [Xi] considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing, but I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that. I hope he doesn’t do that,” Trump said. Trump made the comments in the context
SELF-DEFENSE: Tokyo has accelerated its spending goal and its defense minister said the nation needs to discuss whether it should develop nuclear-powered submarines China is ramping up objections to what it sees as Japan’s desire to acquire nuclear weapons, despite Tokyo’s longstanding renunciation of such arms, deepening another fissure in the two neighbors’ increasingly tense ties. In what appears to be a concerted effort, China’s foreign and defense ministries issued statements on Thursday condemning alleged remilitarism efforts by Tokyo. The remarks came as two of the country’s top think tanks jointly issued a 29-page report framing actions by “right-wing forces” in Japan as posing a “serious threat” to world peace. While that report did not define “right-wing forces,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was
RSS