CROSS-STRAIT TIES: A US deputy assistant secretary of state told a committee that the foundation had been laid to carry out a Taiwan-China dialogue
By Charles Snyder
The George W. Bush administration hopes that statements made by President Chen Shui-bian in his inaugural address, plus some recent comments from Beijing, will form the basis of an eventual dialogue between Taipei and China that could lead to some sort of a settlement of cross-strait differences, a senior State Department official said in Washington on Thursday.

[ FULL STORY ]

Angered by China's hard line against democracy in Hong Kong, an estimated 60,000 people waved candles, sang and chanted yesterday night to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.

[ FULL STORY ]

By Jimmy Chuang
Vice Minister of National Defense Huo Shou-yeh (霍守業) yesterday promised that the ministry will not waste taxpayers' money on useless weapons as he briefed Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers regarding the ministry's NT$610 billion budget for arms purchases.

[ FULL STORY ]

Police swamped Tiananmen Square yesterday, keeping dissent at bay on the 15th anniversary of the bloody pro-democracy crackdown as survivors and their families privately mourned the hundreds who died.

[ FULL STORY ]

A classified Senate report very critical of the CIA's performance on Iraq, especially its miscalculations on weapons of mass destruction, may have precipitated CIA Director George Tenet's resignation, The New York Times said yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]