China's No. 2 Taiwan affairs official completed the first day of his visit to Washington on Monday, with a softer tone than the strident message he delivered during an earlier stop in New York.
But some officials and scholars who met with the official, Zhou Mingwei (
"He tried to talk in a flexible way," said one China specialist who attended the lunch at the Woodrow Wilson Center. "Whether that's where things are really headed is another question," he said.
Another participant at the lunch, which was attended by some two dozen people, agreed. "He was not in any way strident. But the bottom line was not in any way different. It's just a change in tone," he said.
All participants were sworn to secrecy, and would not divulge the substance of Zhou's comments, who is the deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of Beijing's State Council.
In comments in public and private in New York, Zhou warned that the only alternative to the unification of Taiwan and China would be war, derided President Chen Shui-bian (
"I don't think the message was any different, but the tone was different," said one China expert who attended Monday's lunch. "I don't think he was here to just emphasize how war is going to follow."
The main purpose of Zhou's visit is to promote overall US-China relations, rather than to deal exclusively with Taiwan issues, the specialist said. But Zhou feels that US arms sales are an important aspect of those overall relations, the specialist said.
"I think China is worried that if this issue is mishandled by the administration, that they will be forced to respond very strongly," and Zhou is seeking "to prevent a further deterioration in Sino-US relations, a deterioration in cross-strait relations that they do not want to see," the specialist said.
"They want to convey the very sincere concern about the impact it's going to have on cross-strait relations and Sino-US relations," he added.
Other participants noted that Zhou spent as much time listening to the luncheon attendees as he did speaking. After the luncheon, he refused to answer journalists' questions.
Zhou also met with US Defense Department officials on Monday, but a meeting at the State Department, originally set for Monday, was put off until later in the week.
State Department officials would not explain the delay. Secretary of State Colin Powell is currently in the Middle East.
Yesterday Zhou was to meet members of Congress and officials of the National Security Council.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary