President Chen Shui-bian (
"The display of Taiwan's support is because Taiwan must repay the US' long-term assistance during crucial moments in the past, and because our country strongly opposes the possession and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," Chen said.
He made the comments while receiving a group of business leaders at the Presidential Office.
He told the guests, senior executives of the Republic of China Junior Chamber of Commerce, that it was because of the support and assistance from the American government and people that Taiwan survived the major crises of the past -- including the 1958 Battle of the Taiwan Strait, the 1996 missile crisis and Beijing's intimidation in the run-up to Taiwan's 2000 presidential election.
Chen also sought to reassure the public about Taiwan's readiness to deal with any war-related emergencies. The government's emergency measures mechanism, created in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the US on Sept. 11, 2001, is a well-oiled machine ready to deal with any developments, he said.
"I would like to appeal to all people to keep calm and don't worry," Chen said.
The president went on to express his confidence in the Cabinet's ability to maintain the country's safety and improve the economy.
"Though the government has experienced difficulties since Tai-wan accomplished its first transfer of power, our country has gradually achieved a remarkable goal," Chen said, pointing to an economic growth rate that has gone from minus 2.18 percent in 2001 to 3.54 percent last year.
"And I believe that this year we will reach the goal of four percent," Chen said.
Meanwhile, Vice President Annette Lu (
Taiwan has the experience to serve as a peacemaker, Lu told reporters during an inspection tour in northern Taiwan. "Therefore the country will deliver its love to people of Iraq after the war is over," she said.
Lu stressed that Taiwan should not stay away from the war in Iraq, but that its proper role is to provide humanitarian aid and contribute to the post-war reconstruction effort.
"Just as I did after the US-led military action against Afghanistan, I will personally initiate activities to raise donations of money and goods to give to the Iraqi people, who are the most unfortunate victims of the war," Lu said.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
REVENGE TRAVEL: A surge in ticket prices should ease this year, but inflation would likely keep tickets at a higher price than before the pandemic Scoot is to offer six additional flights between Singapore and Northeast Asia, with all routes transiting Taipei from April 1, as the budget airline continues to resume operations that were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Scoot official said on Thursday. Vice president of sales Lee Yong Sin (李榮新) said at a gathering with reporters in Taipei that the number of flights from Singapore to Japan and South Korea with a stop in Taiwan would increase from 15 to 21 each week. That change means the number of the Singapore-Taiwan-Tokyo flights per week would increase from seven to 12, while Singapore-Taiwan-Seoul
POOR PREPARATION: Cultures can form on food that is out of refrigeration for too long and cooking does not reliably neutralize their toxins, an epidemiologist said Medical professionals yesterday said that suspected food poisoning deaths revolving around a restaurant at Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 Store in Taipei could have been caused by one of several types of bacterium. Ho Mei-shang (何美鄉), an epidemiologist at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, wrote on Facebook that the death of a 39-year-old customer of the restaurant suggests the toxin involved was either “highly potent or present in massive large quantities.” People who ate at the restaurant showed symptoms within hours of consuming the food, suggesting that the poisoning resulted from contamination by a toxin and not infection of the
BAD NEIGHBORS: China took fourth place among countries spreading disinformation, with Hong Kong being used as a hub to spread propaganda, a V-Dem study found Taiwan has been rated as the country most affected by disinformation for the 11th consecutive year in a study by the global research project Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). The nation continues to be a target of disinformation originating from China, and Hong Kong is increasingly being used as a base from which to disseminate that disinformation, the report said. After Taiwan, Latvia and Palestine ranked second and third respectively, while Nicaragua, North Korea, Venezuela and China, in that order, were the countries that spread the most disinformation, the report said. Each country listed in the report was given a score,