The US is not concerned about whether President Chen Shui-bian (
Wu, head of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), made the remarks yesterday while responding to lawmakers during a question and answer session at the legislature.
HIGH MARKS
"I've been personally in touch with Richard Bush and US officials, and they've all given Taiwan's handling of the situation high marks," Wu said.
Richard Bush, a former American Institute in Taiwan chairman, is the director of the Brookings Institution's Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies.
Several lawmakers had pointed to an article that Bush wrote for the Chinese-language daily China Times as a call for restraint in responding to Beijing's law.
Responding to complaints that the government should focus on formulating effective policies rather than taking to the streets, Wu said that tomorrow's rally was one of the best ways to express to the international community Taiwan's desire for freedom and democracy.
Wu did not commit to participating in the protest himself, saying only that he would go if his busy schedule permitted.
THE POLICY FRONT
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Cho-shui (
"If the Anti-Secession Law is a tiger, then Rice is working to pull out the tiger's teeth by making peace in the Taiwan Strait a common security objective with Japan and by putting pressure on the EU to keep the arms ban on China," Lin said.
In a report commissioned by the legislature, the council identified three policy objectives in responding to Beijing's Anti-Secession Law. The council plans to continue to publicly condemn Beijing's use of non-peaceful means, to lobby for support from the international community and to build domestic consensus on the matter.
STABILITY
Wu said that because the rally's call for freedom, democracy, peace and stability was fundamentally the same as the government's statements in response to Beijing's legislation, there was no real conflict of interest if he decided to take to the streets this weekend.
Wu also said that the National Assembly elections on May 14 could be a possible turning point for cross-strait relations.
"It's just the first major event between now and future [cross-strait] development," Wu explained, while declining to predict where relations might be at that time.
The government will continue to assess the impact of the Anti-Secession Law on cross-strait ties as it formulates future policies, Wu said.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
ANOTHER OPTION: The 13-year-old, whose residency status was revoked for holding a Chinese passport, could still apply for residency on humanitarian grounds, the government said The Executive Yuan has rejected an appeal from a 13-year-old Chinese student surnamed Lu (陸), whose permanent residency was revoked after immigration officers discovered he held a Chinese passport. Lu in December 2023 applied to settle in Taiwan to be with his mother, surnamed Lin (林), who is a Taiwan resident, an appeal decision released this month by the Executive Yuan showed. Lin settled in Taiwan after marrying a Taiwanese man in 2003, but the two divorced in 2011, and after marrying a Chinese man, she had Lu, the Executive Yuan’s appeals committee said. Lu’s application was approved in December 2024, and in
RSS