Beijing bristled yesterday at Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) plan to send a delegation of negotiators from his party to China, saying they would only be welcome if the party abandoned its pro-independence platform.
An official of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, China's Cabinet, said Taiwan needed to take "practical and sincere" actions to back up overtures Chen made in a speech on Thursday, the official China Daily reported.
"Delegations of the [DPP] are welcome to visit the mainland, provided that the DPP accept the `one-China' principle and give up its Taiwan independence platform," the newspaper quoted the unnamed official as saying.
Chen's overture was merely an "act" put on for the international community, the Taiwan Affairs Office said in a commentary published by China's official Xinhua news agency.
The commentary said Chen wanted "to cover up his awkward position" after Chinese leader-in-waiting Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) visit to Washington this month, hailed by Hu as a resounding success.
The Xinhua commentary said that Chen "blows hot and cold, behaves capriciously and is a hard man to trust."
But in January, Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen (錢其琛) signalled a softer line towards Taipei, saying only a small number of DPP members were separatists and inviting others to visit China in an "appropriate" capacity.
Chen said he would send a delegation of officials from the DPP to China after Aug. 1 to get deadlocked negotiations between Taiwan and the mainland going again.
"The first step to resume talks is to exchange visits," Chen said.
Chen also said opening direct trade, transport and postal links between Taiwan and China was "a road we must take."
In response, the Chinese official said Sino-Taiwan relations would not improve if Chen went back on his word, the China Daily reported.
Chen's overture came two days after he took a swipe at China's heir apparent Hu, saying it is "very difficult to have excessive expectations" of a breakthrough in bilateral relations if the 59-year-old vice president takes over as China's leader.
Hu is expected to replace President Jiang Zemin (
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
RSS