The government is working hard to secure agreement on a visit to Taiwan by former US president George W. Bush, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said yesterday.
“The MOFA seeks to extend invitations to US officials at all levels, incumbent or retired, including [former president] Bush, but we are still in the process of working out the details of [Bush's] itinerary,” Chen said.
Chen's comments came after yesterday's Chinese-language Next Magazine reported that Bush was likely to visit Taiwan late this month.
The report said President Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) government began arranging the visit earlier this year after first ensuring China was not opposed to the plan.
It said that the visit would be termed an “academic” one to avoid any controversy.
The report said that Bush has agreed to visit, but Chen yesterday said, “it is not finalized.”
Later yesterday when approached by reporters at Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) headquarters, MOFA Minister Timothy Yang (楊進添) remained guarded, saying that inviting Bush to Taiwan was “just a thought that has not yet materialized.”
Yang also declined to comment on whether Jason Yuan (袁健生), the nation's representative in the US, had brought up the idea with Bush, saying that he did not have that information.
Asked for a comment over the telephone, former representative to the US Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), now a research fellow at National Chengchi University's Institute of International Relations, said that Bush should be welcomed to Taiwan as it was during his presidency that Taiwan saw rapid development in its relations with the US.
Despite turbulence in relations during the last few years of former president Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) term, the contribution made by Bush to maintaining Taiwan's national security “deserves praise,” said Wu, referring to arms sales that Bush approved.
Wu said that he hoped Bush would draw attention to the pro-China stance in Ma's handlings of cross-strait relations when in Taiwan, as he is fully aware that China remains a serious menace to Taiwan and the whole world.
Wu said he hoped Bush, who has repeatedly praised Taiwan's democracy, would note the “political prosecutions” of former DPP officials, saying he should not keep silent on judicial impartiality given the extent to which the ongoing cases had undermined democracy and freedom in the country.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS