President Chen Shui-bian (
The award, to be presented by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, will honor Chen for his "efforts in promoting tolerance, democracy, and human rights," according to a House of Representatives resolution welcoming his visit. The caucus is made up of more than 250 House members, more than half the total House membership of 435.
UN Bid support
Meanwhile, several congressmen are preparing letters in support of Taiwan's bid to join the UN, in advance of a mass rally planned in New York next week on the eve of a global summit meeting accompanying the General Assembly's celebration of its 60th anniversary.
The summit will draw the heads of state of well over 100 nations, including presidents George W. Bush and Hu Jintao (
The House resolution was introduced Thursday by Representative Steve Chabot, a Republican who is a co-chairman of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus. It was also sponsored by the other three co-chairman of the Taiwan caucus, and has attracted the co-sponsorship of 10 other House members.
Sponsors expect it to receive sufficient additional support to enable the House International Relations Committee to approve the resolution at a business meeting slated for next Wednesday, and to send it to the full House for approval before Chen arrives.
Chen will stop over in Miami on his way to Latin America and will stay overnight in San Francisco on his way back to Taipei.
`Ironclad' ties
Calling the US-Taiwan relationship over the past half century "ironclad," the House resolution expresses the "sense of Congress" welcoming Chen to the US. It calls the trip "another significant step in broadening and deepening the friendship and cooperation between the United States and Taiwan."
Chen will bring with him "a strong message from the Taiwanese people that Taiwan will cooperate and support the United States campaign against international terrorism and efforts to rebuild an bring democracy and stability to Afghanistan and Iraq," the resolution says.
It also thanks Taiwan for its US$2 million contribution to relief efforts in the devastated Gulf of Mexico coastal areas stricken by Hurricane Katrina, and asks Chen to "communicate to the people of Taiwan the support of Congress and the American People."
The resolution praises Taiwan for "unequivocal support" of human rights, democracy, freedom of the press and speech, and "free and fair elections."
Also in Washington, Taiwan supporters are gathering letters from congressmen endorsing Taiwan's bid to gain UN membership. Those letters are planned to be read at the New York rally on Tuesday, which is expected to draw between 300 and 500 Taiwanese-Americans to demand Taiwan's admission into the world body.
The Taiwanese will hold their demonstration at the UN's Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at midday, and then move to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where Bush and Hu are scheduled to meet that afternoon.
The congressional letters will be gathered by the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), a major Taiwan lobbying organization in Washington, for presentation at the rally.
Unfair exclusion
Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, wrote a typical letter to FAPA president Wu Ming-chi (
"I am hopeful that the UN delegates will resist the relentless and irrational pressure of the communist regime in Beijing and accord the people of Taiwan their rightful representation in this important world body," he says.
Similar expressions were voiced on the floor of the House this week. Republican Representative Dan Burton, the chairman of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee, said in a speech welcoming Chen's US visit, "It has been a gross injustice to deny Taiwan's 23 million people their proper voice in the world. The United States should take more active steps in helping Taiwan re-enter the World Health Organization and the United Nations."
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
RSS