President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday said he hopes that a high-profile APEC summit in October between leaders of the US and China will be beneficial to the future of cross-strait ties.
"We believe [US] President George W. Bush's meeting with China's President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) will have a positive impact [on cross-strait ties]," Chen said yesterday while receiving members of a leading conservative US think tank.
"I hope [the meeting] will not result in any adverse changes or regression in the cross-strait situation," he added.
Chen has been meeting with Heritage Foundation President Edwin Feulner and his assistant Den Sheffer this week.
Chen said that Taiwan hoped Bush would continue on the same path in his handling of cross-strait affairs that his administration has followed over the past six months.
"And I am hopeful President Bush will do his best to promote the reopening of cross-strait negotiations," Chen said.
The president stressed that leaders from both sides of the Taiwan Strait should sit down and begin a constructive dialogue, which is the only way to bring peace to the Taiwan Strait.
"Top leaders from both sides should renew dialogue without any prerequisites and jointly work for the mutual benefit of the people to ensure permanent cross-strait peace," Chen said.
Chen also expressed his support for Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympics. He said that in the spirit of the Olympiad, which was to pursue peace, Taiwan would be pleased to see Beijing host the event.
"Any country that does not renounce the use of force or the threat of the use of force violates the spirit and purpose of the Olympics," Chen added.
Touching on Taiwan's preparations for accession into the WTO, Chen said Taiwan had finalized all of its preparatory work.
"We expect to be admitted into the world trade body simultaneously with China before the end of this year," Chen said.
Chen also reiterated his desire to attend the annual informal leadership meeting of the APEC forum scheduled to be held in Shanghai in late October.
"As an APEC member, we are both entitled and obligated to attend meetings and activities," Chen said.
Due to Beijing's opposition, Chen has been unable to attend the annual APEC summit. Instead, the president has had to name a proxy to attend the meeting on his behalf.
Beijing officials have already repeatedly rejected any suggestion that Chen attend the upcoming APEC summit in Shanghai.
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
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‘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)