Taiwan will not be used as a pawn by the US in its strategy to gain support from China for an attack on Iraq, Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) said yesterday.
Chien was responding to questions from opposition lawmakers as to whether the US is likely to seek China's support for its plan to wage war against Iraq at the expense of this country.
Since France, Russia and Germany have warned that they would block any UN authorization for military action against Iraq, several opposition lawmakers said at a Legislative Yuan plenary session that they were concerned about the possibility the George W. Bush administration would sacrifice Taiwan's interests in exchange for China's support for a war with Iraq.
Chien said the ministry has been closely monitoring developments between Washington and Beijing and the situation in the Middle East.
The ministry has received clear information showing that, up to now, the looming war in Iraq has not had any impact on Taiwan's interests, Chien said, adding that the ministry will continue to keep a close watch on developments.
Earlier in the day, in response to PFP Legislator Fu Kun-chi's (
Yu stressed that the effect on the country would depend on the duration of the war, adding that a prolonged conflict would definitely affect the economies of the US and Europe, which in turn would affect Taiwan.
If the war ends quickly, however, the effect would be minimal, he said.
Yu stressed that the Cabinet has convened several meetings over the possibility of war in Iraq. The meetings have focused on petroleum supply, maintaining stability in the stock and currency markets, as well as monitoring domestic prices and insurance issues.
Noting that state-owned Chin-ese Petroleum's strategic oil reserves can meet demand for about 120 days and private oil stocks for 60 days, Yu said he doesn't expect problems with domestic oil supply in the event of war in Iraq.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching