President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen made the remarks when giving a lecture at the Ketagelan School, a political academy founded by Chen in March 2003.
According to lecture attendees who responded to media queries after the lecture, the president said that opposition party leaders must not overstep their bounds nor make any promises with the other side of the Strait on issues unless they are consistent with national policies or agreements reached by the nation's governing and opposition parties.
The remarks came as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Lien is scheduled to leave for China on Tuesday and meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao (
According to the KMT's itinerary, Lien will visit Xian, deliver a speech at Peking University and meet with Taiwanese businesspeople in Shanghai before returning to Taipei on May 3.
Soong has also accepted Hu's invitation to visit China. A mission led by PFP Secretary-General Chin Chin-sheng (
Chen and Lien will speak by telephone tomorrow afternoon regarding Lien's trip to China on Tuesday.
Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun on Thursday relayed the president's stance to the KMT, saying that the president would support Lien's China trip if it was premised on upholding the nation's interests and putting Taiwan and China on an equal footing.
Meanwhile, a day after she called on Lien and Soong to demand that Beijing fly the Republic of China's (ROC) national flag during their visits in China, Vice President Annette Lu (
"Lien was once ambassador to El Salvador and is somebody who attaches importance to diplomatic affairs," Lu said, referring to Lien's government post as the nation's representative to El Salvador from 1975-1976. "If Lien is really determined to safeguard the ROC's national integrity, he should do it while in Beijing."
"The other side of the Strait is the only country in the whole world who wants to wipe out the ROC's existence," Lu added, "it would be a great deed if [Lien] would safeguard the ROC while setting foot on the other side of the Strait; better yet if he could further the ROC's diplomatic relations by turning a country that's against us into our diplomatic ally."
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it