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 (
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
‘COMING MENACINGLY’: The CDC advised wearing a mask when visiting hospitals or long-term care centers, on public transportation and in crowded indoor venues Hospital visits for COVID-19 last week increased by 113 percent to 41,402, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it encouraged people to wear a mask in three public settings to prevent infection. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks, and 102 severe COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths were confirmed last week, both the highest weekly numbers this year. CDC physician Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) said the youngest person hospitalized due to the disease this year was reported last week, a one-month-old baby, who does not
RSS