The US Department of Defense has revised articles carried by its official news service that made reference to Taiwan after complaints from Taiwanese officials in Washington.
The officials objected to references contained in articles released by the Armed Forces Press Service on Saturday and Sunday about US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' trip to China, where he discussed a wide range of bilateral and regional issues, including China's breakneck military expansion and Taiwan.
On Monday, the press service eliminated the offending references from the articles on its Web site and the Pentagon's spokesman for East Asian affairs, Major Stewart Upton, conceded that the original references were "inaccurate."
This was after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had instructed Taiwanese Representative to the US Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) to ask for "clarification" on the articles.
"The first thing in the morning [on Monday], on instructions from Taipei, we [got] in touch with the Pentagon, the State Department and some of the relevant government agencies," Deputy Representative Stanley Kao (
"Very quickly we got the response from the American authorities that the US cross-strait policy remains unchanged," Kao said.
"So, quickly the Pentagon made the correction. We are appreciative of this response, the quick rectification of the US position," he said.
"We will continue to [ensure] that people involved in news releases, without looking into the nuances, the subtlety of this very sensitive cross-strait issue, no longer make any mistakes that cause misunderstanding or uneasiness," Kao said.
"We are satisfied with the corrections. Hopefully, that is the end of the story," he said.
Gates arrived in Beijing on Sunday for two days of talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (
In an article on Saturday previewing Gates' trip, press service reporter Jim Garamone described US policy on cross-strait relations as "a sincere desire to see reunification done in a peaceful manner." Garamone also referred to the government's planned referendum on joining the UN under the name "Taiwan" as an "independence referendum."
The next day, another Garamone article said the US was "against independence for the island nation."
Those three references were removed from the articles on Monday. The article released on Sunday carried this editor's note: "This article was modified from the form in which it was originally published to correct our coverage." Saturday's archived article contained no such note.
The revised articles say only that: "The Chinese are concerned about the up-coming referendum in Taiwan which the United States also opposes."
They no longer contain any reference to "independence."
US policy is now described as "a sincere desire to see the Taiwan issue resolved in a peaceful manner." The word "reunification" is not mentioned.
Sunday's article says merely that "The US delegation expects the Chinese to also bring up Taiwan."
Upton said US policy on Taiwan is "consistent and clear."
"The United States remains committed to a peaceful resolution in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the United States opposes unilateral change, by either side, to the `status quo,'" he said.
"The US has an abiding interest that any resolution of the cross-strait situation be peaceful. The United States would view any use of force against Taiwan with grave concern and remains committed to meet its obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act," Upton said.
While US officials have long said they "do not support" Taiwan's independence, they have never publicly said they "oppose" or "are against" it.
Meanwhile, Gates declined to say anything about Taiwan during a press conference with Chinese Minister of Defense Cao Gangchuan (曹剛川) after their meeting in Beijing on Monday.
The Pentagon made a transcript available in Washington.
Asked about US views on China's military buildup, including US expectations of a Chinese response if Washington came to Taiwan's defense in a war, Gates spoke mainly about the value of greater military dialogue.
Cao, however, delivered a lengthy warning against the possibility of Taiwan's independence.
"The Chinese government will act in accordance with the `Anti-Secession' Law to take any necessary actions to maintain the unification of the country and safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits [sic]," he said.
The "Anti-Secession" Law, passed in 2005, commits Beijing to military action to prevent Taiwan's independence.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) told a press conference in Taipei yesterday that the US had clarified the "inaccuracies" contained in its articles.
"The US addressed the three points [of contention] in its articles one by one, saying that they [didn't accurately reflect] the official US position on Taiwan policy," Yeh said.
"We came to understand that US government departments, other than the State Department, are not very familiar with cross-strait issues. We have to enhance communication with them," she said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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
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
‘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)