Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)Chairman Lien Chan (
Lien said the impact of Bush's announcement of US opposition to any of Taiwan's attempts to change its relationship with China during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's (
"The impact of Bush's remarks will involve a wide range of issues regarding relations between China, Taiwan and the US. We need to observe developments for a couple of days," Lien said.
Lien said that whether Chen's plan to press ahead with the referendum will fuel cross-strait tensions "completely depends on whether Chen cares about the lives of Taiwan's 23 million people."
Su Chi (
"According to my understanding, the last thing Bush wanted to raise in his talks with Wen was the Taiwan issue. Bush wanted to concentrate on trade, North Korea and anti-terrorism," Su said.
But, he said, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, chanting Chen's "five noes" pledge -- which promised no vote on Taiwan's independence -- nevertheless went ahead with its plans for a new constitution, a change in the nation's title and holding referendums.
"These gestures by the DPP government had left the US no choice but to make its stance clear. Chen rejected the US' goodwill and now has to receive his punishment. Why must he anger the US, our best friend?" Su asked.
Taiwan does not fear war, but it should not court war, he said.
Noting Taiwan's capacity to maneuver with China has been diminishing during Chen's term, Su said Chen has irritated both his enemy, China, and his friend, the US.
The deteriorating Taiwan-US relationship and Chen's failure to visit any non-allied countries since he took power have plunged Taiwan into diplomatic isolation unprecedented in 50 years, Su said.
Meanwhile, after the DPP formally nominated Chen yesterday as its presidential candidate, Lien said he hoped to have an "open and fair" competition with Chen in the course of the presidential campaign, in order to strengthen the country's democracy.
KMT Spokesman Alex Tsai (蔡正元) asked Chen not to use government resources for his campaign or sacrifice Taiwan's security to gain votes.
"According to reliable sources, the DPP has been mobilizing people to join its rallies by giving them rewards," Tsai said.
With the DPP set to announce Chen's running mate today, the KMT yesterday published the results of its weekly polls on presidential candidates conducted since the end of September.
The polls showed Chen has a greater chance of winning the election if he picks Taipei County Commissioner Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) as his running mate, rather than Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮).
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