US President George W. Bush unveiled new aid for the typhoon-battered Philippines and praised Vietnam’s “noteworthy” progress on religious freedom in talks on Tuesday with their visiting leaders.
Bush offered “deep condolences” to Philippine President Gloria Arroyo over devastating Typhoon Fengshen and said he was sending a US aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, and other US Navy resources to help with relief efforts.
“This is a time where America needs to step up, and we will,” he told her as they met in the Oval Office. “We are happy to do it, we want to help our friends in a time of need.”
Arroyo, whose popularity is the lowest in three years as soaring prices slow growth and slash incomes, spoke in Filipino, which was not translated.
Afterwards, Bush joked: “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Later, he met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, praising Vietnam’s “noteworthy” progress on religious freedoms amid a flurry of US-Vietnam trade deals and vows of closer cooperation on issues like climate change.
“We talked about freedom, religious and political freedom,” Bush said. “And I told the prime minister that I thought the strides the government is making towards religious freedom is noteworthy and I appreciated the efforts that he and his government are making.”
Dung, speaking through an interpreter, made no mention of rights among the issues they had discussed and said Bush had “reiterated his support for Vietnam’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.”
Bush’s upbeat tone seemed to clash with the US State Department’s assessment on the human rights picture in Vietnam last year, which cited reports of limits on religious meetings and celebrations and the publication of religious texts.
“Overall respect for religious freedom improved during the year, but the government persisted in placing restrictions on the political activities of religious groups,” said the report, which was published in March.
Dung said he and Bush had agreed to bolster cooperation on economic, education, environment, science, defense and security issues.
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,
RSS