The US says it will not send congratulations to the winner of the presidential election until all of the challenges launched by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
It also says that neither the assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (
The US disclosed that Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (
In Washington's first extensive comments on the election and the events surrounding it, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher explained the Bush administration's failure to congratulate Chen by saying it will wait for the legal processes in Taiwan to be completed.
"We're just comfortable waiting for those processes to work themselves out, and not for us to say who won, but for them to tell us who won," Boucher said.
In its earlier response to the election results, the State Department sent its congratulations to "the people of Taiwan," not to Chen specifically.
Boucher repeated that in his press briefing on Monday.
"We congratulate the Taiwan people for exercising their right to vote in the recent election, as they did in large numbers. I think this demonstrates once again that Taiwan is a vibrant democracy," he said.
Boucher also said the US has rejected Lien's request for Washington to send experts to Taiwan to investigate the assassination attempt and to intervene in his election challenges.
"We're very neutral in this," he said. "We think there are appropriate legal mechanisms in Taiwan to work out the appropriate determinations as regards to the election results, and I think that would apply to the shooting as well."
He refused to speculate on the US response should the government ask it to send experts to help in the shooting probe.
"I'd just have to see if that were to happen, if they were to invite somebody. I'm not aware that we've had anybody, at least on the government side, that's been invited at this point," Boucher said.
He reiterated Washington's earlier call for the people of Taiwan to remain calm.
"Decisions on the challenges and recounts and those things, those are decisions for the people of Taiwan to make," he said. "We're confident that both sides and their supporters will remain calm, and that they will use established legal mechanisms to resolve any questions about the election results."
Boucher said, "We're all watching this situation. We've been talking to people in Taiwan as well to make sure that we understand the views of various people there, including leaders of the two colors, of the two alliances.
"And so, it's been a matter that we've been following closely, and the Chinese and others have as well," he said.
He said in their discussion, Powell and Li "did talk about the elections and how things were evolving with it."
Regarding the meetings American Institute in Taiwan Director Douglas Paal held with Chen and Lien on Sunday, Boucher said the meetings were planned in advance, but could not say when.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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