Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday that Beijing's draft "anti-secession" law targeting Taiwan runs counter to US-China diplomatic ties mandating that China should resolve the Taiwan issue in a peaceful manner.
Lu, who arrived in Houston on Saturday night for a three-day transit stay en route to El Salvador for a state visit, said during her flight to Houston that if the "anti-secession" law were indeed passed and allows the People's Liberation Army to use "non-peaceful means" against Taiwan, the law would seriously contradict the principles of the Taiwan Relations Act.
Lu departed Taipei on Saturday for an official visit to El Salvador and Guatemala. She is also scheduled to make transit stops in Houston and Miami during her 12-day trip.
Lu said Beijing's "anti-secession" law is not just a problem for Taiwan, but is a concern for the whole world, particularly the US.
She said that before departing Taipei, she has exchanged views with President Chen Shui-bian (
Lu was accorded a reception befitting a visitor of her status upon her arrival in Houston, with William Brown, acting chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), and David Lee (李大維), Taiwan's top liaison officer in the US, going aboard Lu's charter flight to welcome her.
Lu was scheduled to eat at a Houston steakhouse that Chen visited in June 2001 at noon yesterday and meet with a group of pro-Taiwan lawmakers in Texas.
In the evening, Lu is scheduled to deliver a speech on the implications of Beijing's enactment of the "anti-secession" law at a dinner with some 300 overseas Taiwanese who will come from around the state of Texas.
Lu is scheduled to visit NASA headquarters Monday morning.
According to the delegation's itinerary, Lu will inspect the possibility of establishing a "Taiwan Park" for industries in El Salvador, in the hopes that the park's construction can be completed and its operations begun within the remaining three years of Chen's term.
Lu will also attend a regional meeting of the Democratic Pacific Union (DPU) in America in Guatemala. Six Central American allies and five non-allied countries in North, Central and South America will attend the meeting, Lu said, adding that this will be a warm-up to a DPU regional organization to be established in Taipei on August 14.
During the 12-day visit, she will call on Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca and Vice President Ana Vilma De Escobar and Guatemalan President Oscar Berger.
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
MATAIAN RIVER: Rescue operations were ongoing, with officials urging residents to move to higher floors where possible as teams focus first on those at ground level Floodwaters from the overflowing Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) barrier lake swept into Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復) yesterday afternoon, leaving hundreds of people trapped and three missing as of press time last night, the Hualien County Fire Bureau said. The waters surged into downtown Guangfu after the riverbank burst at about 2:50pm, carrying mud and debris and submerging streets to rooftop level in some areas. Residents were seen climbing onto vehicles and rooftops to await rescue as thick, silt-laden water inundated the town. The surge destroyed the Mataian Bridge (馬太鞍溪橋) and flooded the Guangfu Railway Station. Rescue operations were launched with support from fire departments
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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