In a late change to its election campaign platform this year, the Democratic Party expanded its commitment to Taiwan, adding two small but important phrases to an earlier draft that virtually ignored the Taiwan issue.
In the final document, which will be presented to the party’s presidential nominating convention in Denver next week, the party added references to the Taiwan Relations Act and the wishes of Taiwanese.
An earlier draft, which was the basis of a Taipei Times story last weekend, only referred to a commitment to the so-called “one-China” policy and the need for a peaceful solution to cross-strait issues.
As amended, the final section on Taiwan is still small. It now reads: “We are committed to a ‘One China’ policy and the Taiwan Relations Act, and will continue to support a peaceful resolution of cross Straits [sic] issues that is consistent with the wishes and best interests of the people of Taiwan.”
However, presumptive party presidential candidate Barack Obama has gone beyond those commitments in statements and letters on Taiwan in recent months.
In May, Obama sent a letter to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) congratulating Ma on his inauguration and offering his support.
“A sound US-Taiwan relationship will certainly be the goal of my administration,” Obama wrote.
“I believe that the United States should strengthen channels of communication with officials of your government. We should continue to provide the arms necessary for Taiwan to deter possible aggression,” he wrote.
The letter, which was believed to have been drafted by Richard Bush, a key Obama advisor and a former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, the US’ de facto embassy in the absence of diplomatic ties, called Ma’s election and inauguration “good days for the people of Taiwan, for the forces of democracy around the world and for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and western Pacific.”
It also expressed the hope that China would respond to Ma’s presidency “in a constructive and forward-leaning way.”
The Republican Party, whose convention is at the beginning of next month, is expected to release its platform later this month.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
RSS