The US administration on Monday sidestepped questions about whether president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) would be permitted to visit Washington before his inauguration in May, while some sources said that Ma may already have sparked a diplomatic incident by expressing his wish to visit Washington before informing the US or the Ministry of Foreign affairs beforehand.
"There are no plans for a visit," the office of the spokesman of the US National Security Council, an arm of the White House, told reporters on Monday.
Earlier, both White House spokesman Dana Perino and US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack were asked about a possible Ma visit. Both said they had no information about it. Later, a NSC spokesman said that no visit had been planned.
Taiwan's top representative in Washington, Joseph Wu (
"If the request is made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or if Mr Ma has approached the ministry to make the request of the US side, TECRO [the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, which Wu heads] will work on it. But so far, we have not received any instructions from Taipei," Wu told the Taipei Times in an interview.
Wu said he had not consulted US officials about the visit, but was confident that the State Department had not received an official request.
Some sources said Ma's expression of interest in visiting Washington may already have violated important diplomatic niceties by not consulting the ministry or making a formal request.
They said that China would likely strongly oppose such a visit, creating a foreign policy dilemma for the Bush administration, which has sought rapprochement with China.
Even after leaving office, former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) trips to Japan and the US continued to draw Beijing's ire, sources said.
A visit by Ma to coordinate US-Taiwan relations, even ahead of his inauguration, would elicit a similar response from Beijing, sources in Washington said.
Nevertheless, some Taiwan supporters in the US felt that a Ma visit would be a good thing, allowing for a face-to-face meeting to iron out problems that could arise during his term.
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
RSS