Speaking in Singapore yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
While at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy yesterday, Lien spoke about the KMT's position on cross-strait relations, criticizing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration for Taiwan's economic situation.
The security of the Taiwan Strait and peace between China and Taiwan are issues which all the people in the world are concerned about, making the need for cross-strait exchange and dialogue beyond question, Lien said.
COMMON HOPE
The common hope of both Taiwan and China is to pursue high standards of living and high-quality living environments; as a result, it is obvious that the countries need peaceful exchanges and to avoid armed confrontation, Lien added.
A focus of media attention yesterday was whether or not Lien would be secretly meeting with representatives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) while in Singapore, which the KMT denied Saturday.
Chinese-language media had speculated Saturday that Lien might meet with representatives of the CCP during a dinner banquet hosted by former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (
STATEMENTS
In a statement released Saturday night, KMT Spokesman Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭) said that no such meetings been arranged from the Singaporean side. Furthermore, Chang said, Lien has no need for such a meeting given that the KMT is openly arranging his trip to China and meetings there with high-ranking leaders.
According to the KMT, during his two-day stay in Singapore, Lien also visited the Sun Yat-sen Nanyang Memorial Hall (
Meanwhile, speaking in reaction to recent comments by President Chen Shui-bian (
Referring to the last talks between the KMT and the CCP in 1945, Chen said Saturday that in 1945, the KMT lost China. If Lien goes to talk to China today, Chen asked Saturday, will we also lose Taiwan?
While in Ilan, Ma said that the president should not have said such comments.
"Opposition parties do not have the ability to `sell out Taiwan,' only the ruling party has that ability, because opposition parties do not have administrative power, only a mouth [to speak out]. Lien Chan is bravely walking forward. If he can create a catalyst for peace across the strait, then President Chen should finish the process with a heart full of joy," Ma said yesterday.
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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