US State Department officials reiterated on Tuesday Washington's support for a peaceful resolution of cross-strait disputes in a way that is acceptable to people on both sides of the Strait.
The officials were responding to remarks made by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on Tuesday that only the 23 million people of Taiwan have the right to decide the fate of the country and that the sovereignty of Taiwan belongs to the Taiwanese people and cannot be shared with the 1.3 billion people of China.
Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said the US' policy on cross-strait issues is clear and has been stated on a number of occasions.
"We want these issues resolved by peaceful means. Within this context, our policy, which has been stated over and over again, is our commitment to the `one China' policy, our commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act and the three communiques," Hill told reporters after a House of Representatives hearing.
Also commenting on Chen's remarks during a regular press briefing, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that Washington's stance on these issues remains unchanged, noting that the department last reiterated this in public with a statement by his deputy Adam Ereli last week.
"We have made no changes to our long-standing policy aimed at promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the region. The United States does not support Taiwan independence and opposes unilateral changes to the status quo by either Taiwan or Beijing," McCormack said.
"We support dialogue in the interest of achieving a peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences in a manner that is acceptable to the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait," he said.
Ereli stated the policy on Jan. 30 in the wake of Chen's proposals that Taiwan should seriously consider scrapping the National Unification Council and the National Unification Guidelines and seeking to join the UN under the name of Taiwan.
Chen also proposed drafting a new constitution by the end of this year.
Ereli called Chen's speech "a surprise" and claimed that Taiwan's participation in the UN under the name of Taiwan would represent a "unilateral change to the status quo."
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS