Foreign Affairs Minister Mark Chen (陳唐山) said Thursday that his ministry is working on strategies aimed at putting China's controversial "Anti-Secession" Law up for debate at the UN via Taiwan's diplomatic allies.
Chen said that Beijing has called on allied pro-China countries to push for a publicity drive on its enactment of the Anti-Secession Law, a piece of legislation which he said has triggered a "tidal wave" of opposition and concern worldwide.
To counter Beijing's lobbying efforts, Chen said, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has worked out several strategies of its own, including sending Taiwanese publicity groups to important and influential countries to make the nation's stance more clearly known, and distributing President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) position papers through the nation's diplomatic missions overseas.
The ministry also hopes that cross-strait disputes that have arisen from the enactment of the law can be introduced the UN General Assembly for debate through Taiwan's diplomatic allies.
Regarding allegations that Beijing will make some concessions on the diplomatic front as a form of compensation to Taiwan after passing the legislation, the foreign affairs minister described this as wishful thinking.
Mark Chen added that if China is sincere in wanting to mend fences with Taiwan, it should help the nation improve its "living space" in the international community instead of giving Taiwan "tiny favors."
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
Deliveries of delayed F-16V jets are expected to begin in September, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today, after senior defense officials visited the US last week. The US in 2019 approved a US$8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the nation’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, but the project has been hit by issues including software problems. Koo appeared today before a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which is discussing different versions of the special defense budget this week. The committee is questioning officials today,
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
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