US officials have briefed Taiwan's representative office in Washington on their recent talks with a senior Chinese official in charge of Taiwan affairs, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday.
Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council, visited the US last week. His visit came amid reports that China's rubber-stamp legislature -- the National People's Congress -- will pass an anti-secession law in March.
As the proposed legislation will create a legal pretext for Beijing to use military force to unify with Taiwan, Chen's visit was believed to be aimed at dissuading the Bush administration from opposing the so-called anti-secession law.
The foreign affairs ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the government has come to know the content of Chen's talks with US authorities through Taiwan's representative office in Washington.
Meanwhile, ministry spokesman Michel Lu (
Lee will attend the inauguration as Chen's special envoy, Lu said, adding that the ministry has informed the US authorities of the delegation's members.
Ministry sources said that the nation's top Chinese policy planner, Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), will be part of the delegation.
Other delegates will include legislators from the ruling and opposition parties -- Kuo Cheng-liang (
As the Legislative Yuan is busy screening several critical bills and the central government's budget plan for this year, the sources said, the roster may change.
In line with past precedent, the delegation is expected to meet with US administration officials and congressional members as well as think tank members during the visit.
Lee said a day earlier, however, that he is going for no other purpose than to be Chen's envoy. He said he will leave discussions on Taiwan-US relations and related issues to other members of his delegation.
Ministry officials said delegation members will have different itineraries after attending the inauguration.
While Lee and some delegation members will return to Taiwan, while others will stay for talks with US officials, academics and experts. Topics expected to be addressed will include Beijing's anti-secession legislation, Chen Yun-lin's just-concluded US visit, Taiwan's long-stalled NT$610.8 billion arms procurement package and Chen's Shui-bian's plan to form a special commission to promote peaceful developments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by