President Chen Shui-bian (
National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-ren (
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that two former high-ranking US officials will arrive in Taipei next month, but denied that their visit has anything to do with the recent controversy over Chen's proposal.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said yesterday that former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage and former deputy assistant secretary of State Randy Schriver will be in Taipei at the beginning of next month at the invitation of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.
Lu said that the pair's visit has nothing to do with Chen's proposal to scrap the unification council and guidelines because the trip was arranged a long time ago.
Lu made the remark in response to a media report quoting the Washington-based Nelson Report, which said that Armitage and Schriver will soon visit Taipei in a bid to explain to Chen the possible consequences if he does away with the council and guidelines.
Lu refused to confirm when Armitage and Schriver will arrive, saying that the details are still being arranged. Nor did he give any details about how long they will stay and whether they will meet with Chen or visit the National Security Council.
According to media reports, US National Security Council Asia specialist Dennis Wilder and the State Department's chief Taiwan staffer, Clifford Hart, traveled to Taipei earlier this month for meetings with Chen to try and convince him to drop plans to eliminate the unification council and guidelines.
The US State Department, however, has yet to fully confirm the trips.
Such trips have taken place in the past at times of particular strain in US-Taiwan relations. When Chen proposed holding a referendum in tandem with the 2004 presidential election, the US government sent Michael Green, then senior director for East Asian affairs of the US National Security Council, to Taipei in November 2003.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Chen said that the time is ripe to seriously consider whether to abolish the unification council and guidelines. He has said that he would like to see the security council come up with a report on the political and legal repercussions of the plan by the end of the month.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministry yesterday dismissed speculation that Taiwan's representative to Washington David Lee (李大維) is considering resigning due to the stress caused by the proposal to do away with the NUC and guidelines.
Calling the media's speculation "unethical," Lu quoted Lee as saying that "How can the commander-in-chief leave the battle field when the battle is still raging?"
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)