President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday urged Beijing authorities to directly communicate with him and his officials, saying that such a move is essential for improving cross-strait relations.
The president also stressed that China's relentless attempts to force Taiwan into accepting Beijing's perspective is the biggest obstacle to cross-strait dialogue.
"Since the DPP won the legislative election last December and became the biggest party in the Legislative Yuan, China showed some changes and flexibility in its attitude and policies," Chen said while speaking at a reception ceremony for US delegates at the Presidential Office.
"However, it is still not enough. To improve cross-strait relations, they must deal with our government and make contact with A-bian, because there is no one else, not Taiwanese businessman or any political parties, that can represent the government and make its decisions."
Chen made his remarks at a reception for a delegation of the US' National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP). He openly exchanged opinions with them on cross-strait and diplomatic issues.
The president stressed that Taiwan had already taken the first step toward cross-strait dialogue, but said he had to act in accordance with the Constitution to protect Taiwan's sovereignty, dignity, and pursue an avenue that will benefit all Taiwan's citizens.
"Taiwan's president must never betray the majority's wishes and allow Taiwan to become a second Hong Kong, Macau, or local government of the PRC," Chen said.
He said it seems unreasonable to expect any changes in frozen cross-strait relations for now -- especially as China is facing some problems with its transfer of power.
"It may be best for now to maintain the current situation and allow each side of the Strait to concentrate on economic development and improving the livelihood of its people. Then we can sit down and exchange opinions with China's leaders, without any preconditions."
Chen stressed that to set tough and far-reaching compromises as preconditions for such dialogue will only drive the two sides apart, without solving any problem.
"We hope that each side can have its own interpretation of controversial issues, but China seems not think so," he said.
"It [China] just wants to force Taiwan into accepting its perspective and thus it enlarges the gulf between two sides," the president said, "that's the biggest problem."
In addition, Chen expressed his appreciation to US President George W. Bush for continually showing friendship to Taiwan and reiterating US promises to Tai-wan, adding Taiwan will not abuse the support of the US.
"We fully understand that US support doesn't mean that we can do whatever we like," the president told the guests, "we will neither misjudge the situation or make decisions that could impact the stability of the cross-strait situation."
"We will prove by our actions and facts that Taiwan is not a risk for the US. Taiwan is an asset, not a liability."
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods