Ranking Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials yesterday said the "red team" -- a colloquial term for pro-Beijing US academics and officials -- which was critical of President Chen Shui-bian's (
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (
Lee's remarks were made in response to a report by Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) after his trip to the US from July 11 to July 17 to visit various think tanks, congressmembers, officials and media figures.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Wu said in his report that US-Taiwan relations are stable, but still needed further efforts to strengthen bilateral interaction and understanding.
Wu said observers from think tanks in Taiwan, China and the US expressed concern over the conflict of internal opinion in Taiwanese society, manifested in the disagreements among the ruling and opposition parties over the results of the presidential election and the assassination attempt on Chen.
Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) urged the government to tighten up the coordination of "internal opinion," in the wake of Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) "Bulletgate" pamphlets to US government officials in which the party "made false accusations against the DPP surrounding the election-eve assassination attempt on Chen."
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), who attended the CSC meeting for the first time yesterday, suggested that officials -- particularly legislators -- make more frequent visits to US think tanks and academic institutions for short-term studies to enhance the US' understanding of Taiwan's policies.
DPP Legislator Trong Chai (
Chai said the number of Taiwanese students studying in the US stood at about 29,000 each year, falling far behind the 60,000 Chinese students going to the US for study annually.
Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (
Su said many Taiwanese students, having spent a long time living in the US and possessing sufficient knowledge about the culture of both the US and Taiwanese societies, could be very useful in bridging barriers.
In his report, Wu indicated the viewpoints shared by some US officials who are regarded as "Taiwan's friends," saying "the US government was deeply concerned over the internal conflicts of the Chinese leadership after the visit by US National Security Advisor Condolezza Rice to Beijing in early July."
President Chen yesterday reiterated the government's determination to push for a peaceful and stable framework across Taiwan Strait.
In related issues, as the party opened the 11th CSC meeting yesterday, President Chen played down speculations that the inclusion of the four likely successors to Chen attending the CSC meeting has anything to do with the DPP's power transfer.
"The DPP has never had any problem with choosing successors, and we don't need to be devious or creative on this subject," Chen said.
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
A New York-based NGO has launched a global initiative to rename the nation’s overseas missions, most of which operate under the name "Taipei," to "Taiwan Representative Office (TRO)," according to a news release. Ming Chiang (江明信), CEO of Hello Taiwan, announced the campaign at a news conference in Berlin on Monday, coinciding with the World Forum held from Monday through Wednesday, the institution stated in the release. Speaking at the event, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) said she believed this renaming campaign would enable the international community to see Taiwan
Two siblings in their 70s were injured yesterday when they opened a parcel and it exploded, police in Yilan said, adding the brother and sister were both in stable condition. The two siblings, surnamed Hung (洪), had received the parcel two days earlier but did not open it until yesterday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday in Taiwan, police said. Chen Chin-cheng (陳金城), head of the Yilan County Government Police Bureau, said the package bore no postmark or names and was labeled only with the siblings’ address. Citing the findings of a
RSS