Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) said yesterday that Taiwan's inclusion on the planned "overseas" route of the torch relay for next year's Olympic Games is acceptable to the nation.
Taiwan rejected the original route announced by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) on April 26 because it included Taiwan as China's first "domestic" stopover and would have seen the torch arriving in Taiwan from Vietnam before heading on to Hong Kong. The arrangement was viewed as an intentional move to cast aspersions on the nation's sovereignty.
The two sides later started negotiations on the issue, and Beijing seemed to have softened its stance when it changed "Taipei, China" to "Chinese Taipei" after a protest was lodged with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee.
However, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) had insisted that four prerequisites be met before the torch could pass through Taiwan -- that China follow IOC protocol and regulations, that the government of Taiwan must approve the route, that Taiwan's sovereignty not be downgraded and that all relevant activities be conducive to future interaction between the two sides.
Chang's comments came after the organizers of the Beijing Olympics said on Thursday night that the torch relay would commence in Beijing on March 31 next year and visit 22 overseas cities on five continents and 113 cities and regions in China.
Jiang Xiaoyu (蔣效愚), executive vice president of the BOCOG, stated again that the committee would like to include Taipei as a stop on the torch's route, a news release from China's Taiwan Affairs Office said.
This time, Jiang called Taipei "one of the 22 overseas cities."
When asked to comment on Jiang's statement, MAC Chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) yesterday reasserted that Taiwanese would welcome the Olympic torch as long as the nation's status as a sovereign state was not degraded.
"The term `overseas' is certainly a more neutral way to say it," Chen said.
However, Chen said that only a tentative consensus had been reached on the route during a press conference held at the council's offices.
"The two sides are only one step away from signing an agreement [on the torch route], but that step may be one step too far if side issues are raised," Chen said.
He declined to elaborate.
"I will not disclose what those side issues may be, but I believe Beijing will definitely understand what they are," Chen said.
He said he would only "clarify everything after an agreement is signed."
Chen backed his statement with the results of a survey conducted on Monday and Tuesday, which showed that 78.5 percent of respondents would like the Olympic torch to pass through Taiwan if China does not degrade Taiwan's status. Describing the nation as one of the "overseas" stops was acceptable to 58 percent of respondents.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
RSS