Secretary General to the president Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) yesterday said that the content of President Shui-bian's (陳水扁) defensive referendum will not just be a simple "appeal" to protest China's military threats against Taiwan, but will propose "concrete" suggestions to allow the government making policy in the future.
"The United States government said that we should not make great efforts to just implement a meaningless referendum," Chiou said yesterday.
"Therefore, we must find a solution to make the referendum concrete and significant," he said.
Chiou invited local media to a year-end tea party at the Presidential Office, where he talked about US-Taiwan relationships that were disturbed by Chen's defensive referendum plan.
He said that communication between Taiwan and the US is making progress and "now the US government's concern is a `whole referendum package,' which includes the defensive referendum on March 20 and the new Constitution movement in 2006."
"The present mission for President Chen's administration is to assure the US government that neither the March 20 defensive referendum nor the future new Constitution will hurt the US' interests," he said.
He said that what the US opposes is not the referendum itself but any movement to change Taiwan's status quo.
"If the US and the entire international community understand that Taiwan must create a new Constitution because over 120 articles -- two thirds of the Constitution -- have to be amended, then they may accept that President Chen does not aim to touch on Taiwan's independence," he said.
However, if more than half the Taiwanese people ask to change Taiwan's name, territory and flag while legislating the new Constitution, Chen will follow the trend and violate his "five noes" promise, Chiou said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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