Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (
Addressing a seminar on cross-strait relations, Wu said the government's policy toward China has never veered from the framework outlined in President Chen Shui-bian's (
"I'm not fully aware of Lu's `quasi-war' definition. But one thing that is certain is that any explanations of the nation's cross-strait policy should not go beyond the basic guidelines and spirit set in Chen's second inaugural address," Wu said.
Chen said in the speech that his administration's top goal is to set up a framework of peace and stability for cross-strait relations and that the nation is fully prepared to reopen dialogue with China, Wu said.
Touching on China's ongoing military exercises on Dongshan Island, Wu said such drills are routine activities.
"Training exercises or simulated war games are normal military activities. We need not become anxious whenever China conducts military maneuvers," Wu said.
Nevertheless, Wu acknowledged that the nation faces an ever-increasing military threat because Beijing has continued to increase its military budgets and has stepped up its military build-up.
At the moment, Wu said, China's annual military budget is three times this country's. Against this backdrop, Wu said, Taiwan must take steps to prevent the cross-strait military balance from tilting in favor of China.
Wu urged the public to support a special arms procurement budget bill now awaiting legislative approval.
"The NT$610 billion (US$18 billion) budget plan is part of our efforts to beef up our defenses and prevent a possible cross-strait war due to a serious imbalance in military strength between the two sides of the strait," Wu said.
The Cabinet approved the special budget bill in June to buy six Patriot PAC-III anti-missile batteries, eight diesel-fueled submarines and a squadron of 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft from the US.
The package is awaiting legislative consideration.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Taiwan has activated backup communications for its northernmost territory, the remote and strategically located island of Dongyin (東引), after poor weather conditions apparently shifted the wreckage of a ship onto an undersea cable causing it to break. The vulnerability of undersea communication cables linking Taiwan with its outlying islands has been a persistent cause of concern for Taipei, whose government has on several occasions blamed Chinese ships for intentionally causing damage. Dongyin, home to about 1,500 people, sits in a strategic position at the top of the Taiwan Strait and the island has a heavy military presence. It does not have an
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