The government is seeking to allay US concerns about its policies, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
Chen was commenting on Presidential Office Secretary-General Chiou I-jen's (邱義仁) visit to the US.
Chen said it was very important to rebuild mutual trust between Taiwan and the US and that the government would keep in close contact with the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).
Chen said that both the US and China were paying close attention to preparations for President Chen Shui-bian's (
Chiou, who arrived in Washington on Monday, met with senior US officials, reportedly including Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
Mark Chen said he did not know whom Chiou would be meeting in Washington nor what he planned to talk about there.
"I knew about his visit after reading the newspapers. I will ask him about the details of the trip after he comes back," he said.
On Monday, AIT Deputy Director David Keegan warned Taiwan not to change the cross-strait status quo, adding that the US was looking to Chen Shui-bian for "responsible, democratic and restrained leadership" during a symposium on the Taiwan Relations Act held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Hwang (黃瀧元) stood in for Mark Chen at the symposium. Mark Chen said he did not appear at the symposium because AIT Director Douglas Paal did not attend.
Without explaining why Paal could not attend the symposium, Mark Chen said that Keegan's comments were mostly identical to those of US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia James Kelly on Taiwan during a hearing of the US House of Representatives' International Relations Committee last week.
Both Kelly and Keegan warned Taiwan against moving towards independence.
Mark Chen said Taiwan had to be careful not to hurt US interests while looking after its own.
He noted that one of his utmost duties was to safeguard Taiwan's security.
Chen was speaking during a visit to the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center in Tainan. Chen was attending at the invitation of center director Thomas Lumpkin.
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
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
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