US Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared to signal a retreat from the Bush administration's tough line on the Taiwan referendum on Wednesday in testimony before a congressional committee hearing on President George W. Bush's fiscal 2005 budget request for the State Department and foreign affairs.
"Taiwan is a democratic place," he told the House International Relations Committee. "If they choose to have a referendum, they can have a referendum."
Powell omitted from his comments recent administration statements that linked the planned referendum with changing the "status quo" in the Taiwan Strait, a connection Bush and his aides have repeatedly made.
Powell did say, however, in answer to a question by Democrat Sherrod Brown, a co-chairman of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, that the Bush administration "does not want to see these actions lead in any way to a change in the situation." He did not give details.
Citing the administration's "one China" policy based on the three communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act, "which gives us certain obligations with respect to the security of Taiwan," Powell said, "we don't believe any action should be taken in the region that would unilaterally change the situation."
He added that "we don't really see a need for these referenda."
Powell also said the US is making strong diplomatic efforts to dissuade European nations from dropping their Tienanmen-era ban on sales of weapons to China in view of recent efforts by France and other nations to resume the arms sales.
Powell said he raised the issue with the French foreign minister at lunch last Friday, and with Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen before his appearance at the committee hearing on Wednesday.
"I have been talking with all of my European Union colleagues," including foreign ministers Jack Straw of Britain and Joschka Fischer of Germany, he said.
He said he told them "this is something they really need to give long and hard thought to, and not do."
While the EU has shelved the issue for the moment, they will return to it, Powell cautioned the committee, and "we will be pressing our European colleagues not to abandon this policy."
Meanwhile, for the fifth year in a row, Brown and the other three Taiwan caucus co-chairmen introduced legislation in the House endorsing observer status for Taiwan in the meeting of the World Health Assembly in Geneva in May.
The bill authorizes Powell to "introduce a resolution on the floor of the World Health Assembly, before the assembled delegates, in support of Taiwan's participation" in the meeting as an observer.
It was the first time that such a bill had authorized the introduction of such a resolution.
Previous years' versions merely urged the secretary to develop a strategy to secure Taiwan's observer status.
As a result, while the US has spoken in favor of Taiwan in recent meetings, such comments were generally made in meetings on the sidelines of the actual assembly, not in it.
"SARS and avian influenza continue to threaten Taiwan," Brown said. "The case has never been stronger for allowing the people of Taiwan access to the World Health Organization," he said, noting that SARS killed scores of people in Taiwan last year.
As in recent years, the current bill also mandates the secretary to develop and implement a plan to secure observe status in the World Health Assembly for Taiwan.
In addition to Brown, the other caucus co-chairs who sponsored the bill are Republican Steve Chabot, Republican Dana Rohrabacher, and Robert Wexler, a Democrat.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost