Government officials reacted cautiously to former Chinese president Jiang Zemin's (江澤民) resignation from the chairmanship of China's Central Military Commission yesterday and warned against excessive optimism in cross-strait developments after Jiang's departure.
Jiang's resignation and Chinese President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) succession to China's top military post sparked a flurry of reactions among Taiwanese officials. "This vital step probably won't affect Beijing's Taiwan policy," said Chiu Tai-san (邱太三), vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council. Any change in China's Taiwan policy is likely to remain unclear until the after the US presidential election and Taiwan's legislative elections are concluded, Chiu said. Jiang's move consolidated the leadership of Hu and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶), according to Chiu.
"China will possibly set economic development as the country's top priority, but if this is true, it remains to be seen whether Taiwan will remain high on Beijing's priority list," he said.
The new leadership in Beijing, added Chiu, bears more good than bad news to Taiwan. The leaders tend to make group decisions, which would prevent the government from making hasty decisions, Chiu added.
"Although Jiang has stepped down, he still retains a certain level of influence. It is unlikely Hu would be able to fully control the military, making China's Taiwan policy virtually unchangeable in the short term," said Cabinet spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁).
"Jiang's Eight Points" principle will remain the guideline for Beijing's policy toward Taiwan, according to Chen.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it