US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said on Monday the statement China issued on Sunday was "unhelpful," but did not deliver a US condemnation of it, saying only that the US opposes the use of force. The statement threatened that China would crush any attempt by President Chen Shui-bian (
Ereli emphasized the "constructive" portions of the statement and said "we would urge Beijing to focus on those positive elements that talk about how the two sides can move relations forward."
He also repeated that Washington's policy is that differences between the two sides "need to be resolved peacefully through dialogue, and that continues to be the direction that we urge both parties to take."
He also revealed that the Chinese Foreign Ministry called US Ambassador to Beijing Clark Randt on Sunday to "preview the statement" which was issued late that night.
In its statement, the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council said that "relations across the Taiwan Strait are severely tested," and described Chen's policies as "aimed at dismembering China."
"The Taiwan leaders have before them two roads," the statement said. "One is to pull back immediately from their dangerous lurch towards independence ... The other is to keep following their separatist agenda to cut Taiwan from the rest of China and, in the end, meet their own destruction by playing with fire."
If Taiwan pursues independence, the statement warned, "the Chinese people will crush their schemes firmly and thoroughly at any cost."
Repeating earlier US statements, Ereli said there has been no change in US policy.
"We oppose the use of force, we oppose unilateral actions by either side that would change the status quo, and we continue to encourage both sides to engage in dialogue to peacefully address their differences," he said.
Ereli also reiterated the US' commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act.
"We'll continue to fulfill those commitments and to provide for Taiwan's defense," he said.
Ereli also declined to say whether Washington was getting a briefing from Taiwan on what Chen might say in his inaugural address tomorrow.
Meanwhile, a leading US human-rights official said on Monday that Taiwan's democratization can be held up as an example to the world despite the disputed presidential election, an unwieldy legislature and a polarized society.
Asked about that, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Human Rights Lorne Craner cited international recognition of Taiwan's democratic advances.
"I have had people from around the world tell me that they want to go to Taiwan and they want people from Taiwan to come to their country to tell them how they made the changes in Taiwan," Craner said at a press conference in which he introduced a State Department report on US efforts to fight human-rights violations around the world.
Recalling the changes in Tai-wan since the years of martial law under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Craner said he lived in Taiwan in 1982, "when, if you talked about independence for the island, you got arrested and thrown into jail."
"Today, the people that talk about independence for the island are running the country. So clearly over that period of time, a great deal of change, gradual change, has occurred in Taiwan," Craner said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the