Former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) chairwoman Therese Shaheen will arrive in Taipei tomorrow for a visit with senior government officials, sources said yesterday.
Shaheen, who will be visiting in her capacity as a private citizen, was often at odds with the Bush administration and senior AIT officials in Taipei over her perceived support for Taiwan, according to a US government source.
Shaheen is now president and chief operating officer of a consulting firm, US-Asia Commercial Development Corp. According to the firm's Web site, the firm works "mainly in telecommunications and information technology, aerospace, power and real estate development areas."
Sources from across the political spectrum agree that, although Shaheen no longer holds any official position in the US government, she still has a close relationship with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Shaheen is still "very much politically active with Taiwan," a local source with close ties to the US government said.
The visit -- Shaheen's second trip to Taiwan since she resigned as AIT chairwoman last year -- comes amid a period of heightened tensions in Taiwan-US ties.
Analysts have interpreted recent remarks by US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage as signaling a shift in US policy, despite official denials.
In October, Powell told a Hong Kong TV station that "[Taiwan] does not enjoy sovereignty as a nation," and later told CNN that he was opposed to any "unilateral action that would prejudice an eventual outcome, a reunification that all parties are seeking."
The State Department later said that Powell's comments were not indicative of a change in its "one China" policy.
However, some cross-strait affairs analysts took exception with remarks delivered by Armitage in an interview with the PBS television network on Dec. 20, when he described Taiwan as "probably the biggest landmine" in US-China relations.
Shaheen's resignation as AIT chairwoman on April 7 last year was a direct result of conflict with Bush administration officials over US-Taiwan policy, the US government source said. Shaheen sent a letter to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) congratulating him on winning the March 20 presidential election. Her actions were "characteristic of her exceeding her instructions," a US official told the Taipei Times at the time.
In the past, Shaheen has received flak from pan-blue-camp lawmakers, who have claimed she made use of her position to facilitate US arms sales to Taiwan.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Huang Teh-fu (
The US government source, however, disagreed with the allegations, saying Shaheen "was known to be a critic of Taiwan's acquisition of diesel-electric submarines."
DPP legislators have also called such claims "groundless."
The Bush administration is yet to appoint a permanent replacement for Shaheen as AIT chairperson in Washington.
As Taiwan does not have formal relations with the US, the AIT in Washington is a semi-official organization authorized under the Taiwan Relations Act to coordinate ties with Taiwan.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique