Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday threw his support behind Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games and called again on Taiwan's giant neighbor to renounce the use of force against Taiwan.
The International Olympic Committee is scheduled to select the host nation for the 2008 Summer Olympics on Friday. China desperately wants to win the Games as a confirmation of its status as a major world power.
Chang reiterated his wish that Beijing formally abandon the use of force against Taiwan in dealing with the cross-strait dilemma, noting that the Olympics promote peace, love and harmony among all human beings.
Wu Ching-kuo (吳經國), the only Taiwanese on the IOC, has said he will cast his vote for Beijing, which is competing against Paris, Toronto, Osaka and Istanbul.
Mainland Affairs Vice Chairman Lin Chong-pin (林中斌) said a successful bid on Beijing's part will inevitably influence Taiwanese firms based in China, but he declined to elaborate. "The council will keep a close watch on developments," Lin said.
Che Xiangdong (車向東), deputy director of the liaison department of Beijing's All-China Sports Federation, said Taiwan will be included in the flame relay during the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics if Beijing hosts the Games.
In 1993, Beijing lost its bid to host the 2000 Olympics to Sydney by just two votes, although it had led rivals in the first three rounds of voting.
If no candidate city can win a majority backing from the 122 IOC members, a second or third round of voting is required. Representatives from candidate countries are not allowed to cast a ballot.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique