The Bush administration is not concerned at this time over two recent Chinese official actions that seemingly set the stage for a potential Chinese military attack against Taiwan, Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday.
"I don't see reason for immediate concern at the moment," Powell said in response to a question about China's planned "anti-secession law" and a new defense white paper that targeted Taiwan as the main focus of China's military modernization.
Powell was asked during a Washington press conference about the anti-secession law currently being discussed by China's National People's Congress and a white paper on China's military modernization issued over the weekend.
"I'm aware that there is modernization taking place in the Chinese armed forces," he said.
"We are monitoring that closely, and we are in conversations with our Chinese colleagues about it," he said.
"And so, I don't see reason for immediate concern at the moment. I think everybody realizes that this isn't the time to escalate tensions in the Strait. And we hope that will continue to be the case," he said.
Powell also said the administration is "still committed to our `one China' policy."
Meanwhile, a ranking military official yesterday used the white paper to illustrate to the public the urgent need to move forward with the NT$610 billion special arms procurement budget.
"As far as we can see, China's defense white paper was basically drafted to outline their potential military strikes against Taiwan," said navy Captain Wang Shih-chien (
Wang made the remarks during a weekly press conference at the ministry yesterday morning.
Wang said that according to the white paper, China is obviously trying to expand and improve the capabilities of its amphibious troops, air force and the Second Artillery Corps -- China's strategic missile forces.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has strengthened the abilities of its amphibious troops by equipping them with more state-of-the-art weapons and giving them in-depth training courses.
The Chinese air force is now able to launch a large-scale attack as far away as Guam from China directly. The coverage of its battlezone has been enlarged.
As for the Second Artillery Corps, the Chinese military has been developing and remodeling its guided missiles so that their accuracy will be improved.
"In the past year, China has increased its military budget 12 percent. However, as usual, the Chinese government hides the real budget figures so that the real growth of its military budget will be two or three times more than what we were told," Wang said.
"In the meantime, they [the Chinese government] want to avoid the image that the Chinese government is always a military threat to its neighboring countries. That is also one of the reasons why it never announces its actual military budget," he said.
Wang said that China has always been a threat to peace in Asia.
"We shall trust each other and work together to remain peace in the area. But they [the Chinese] are not on the same track we are on now," Wang said.
Also see story:
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS