President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen made the remarks while meeting with Tadashi Ikeda, the new director-general of the Interchange Association, Taipei Office, Japan's de facto embassy to Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic relations.
Chen pointed to China's suppression of Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer last week as evidence of China's unfriendliness.
Fever abates
Also, the results of the May 14 National Assembly election, which showed that more than 80 percent of the voters supported the government's constitutional reform package, indicated a cooling off of the "China fever" whipped up by visits to China of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
He told Ikeda that China's unreasonable efforts to stifle the nation's international space and the rapid recovery from the "China fever" are a good indication that the people of Taiwan have awakened to this reality.
He said Lien and Soong "did not choose a very appropriate time" to visit China because the world community, and the people in Taiwan, were angry at China's passage of the Anti-Secession Law that threatens to use "non-peaceful means" should Taiwan move toward formal independence or "that possibilities for peaceful reunification should be exhausted."
Stubborn as a plate
Beijing invited Lien and Soong to make the visits mainly to help it dodge international pressure caused by the "Anti-Secession" Law, Chen said.
The visits were aimed at dividing Taiwan and isolating its government, he pointed out.
What happened next proved that the Chinese Communist government remains as intractable as an "iron plate," the president said.
He said Lien and Soong's visits to China have not changed Beijing's unrelenting suppression of Taiwan, but its attempts to isolate the nation's government have not succeeded.
Instead, Taiwan's people have awakened to this harsh reality, so this "probably is a better result of the visits to China by Chairman Lien and Chairman Soong," he added.
Support lauded
He thanked Japan for supporting Taiwan on the issues of the Anti-Secession Law and Taiwan's WHA bid. Japan voiced opposition when the EU was mulling lifting the arms embargo against China.
Tokyo also supported Taiwan's application to join the WHA and the International Health Regulations, under whose principle of universality Taiwan would be able to become part of the international health community.
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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