The US administration has decided to send a senior congressman as its envoy for next Thursday's inauguration of President Chen Shui-bian (
Representative James Leach, a Republican who heads the East Asian and Pacific affairs subcommittee of the House of Representatives' international relations committee, is expected to lead a delegation to the inauguration ceremony, the Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Joseph Wu (
"The president was very happy to learn that Leach will represent the US administration at the event in Taiwan," said Wu, who has been appointed to head the Mainland Affairs Council after the inauguration.
Wu said Chen felt that Leach, 61, has close links with President George W. Bush's administration, and his heading the group "represents the close relations between Taiwan and the United States."
Refusing to disclose the number of members in the delegation, Wu added that a staunch supporter of Taiwan, Alaska's Governor Frank Murkowski, is also scheduled to come for the inauguration.
Washington has been slow in deciding who to send for the ceremony after Chen's razor-thin victory in the March election.
Meanwhile, Leach told a Hong Kong-based television channel Thursday that he feels very heavy responsibility in being appointed head of the US delegation that will attend the inauguration ceremony.
Leach said during an interview with reporters for Phoenix Satellite TV that he might bring to the Taiwanese leadership important messages from White House -- messages that could outline the latest US policy toward Taiwan.
He declined to disclose anything further about the messages, saying that they have not yet been finalized, although he added that he will inform the Taiwanese authorities about the messages' content in advance once he has been notified by the Bush administration.
Leach said the coming four years will be a crucial period in deciding how the cross-strait issue should be settled and he admitted that uncertainty in the current situation is of great concern to the US.
He said he was very worried about the politically volatile situation across the Taiwan Strait, which is why he has urged all parties concerned to exercise the greatest possible degree of prudence at this juncture.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
RSS