The US State Department said on Tuesday that the US supports Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (
The remark by spokesman Adam Ereli during his regular daily press briefing was the strongest endorsement so far of the Lien trip by the Bush administration, which is believed to have pressured President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in recent weeks to accept contact between the pan-blue camp and leaders in Beijing.
"We believe that steps that increase dialogue, support dialogue, support a peaceful resolution of cross-strait tensions are to be supported, to be welcomed," Ereli said.
"And that's the case with this latest visit. And we support the expansion of those kinds of contacts," he said.
Earlier, department statements said the US "welcomed" pan-blue contacts with China, but this was the first time a spokesman had expressed US "support" for those efforts.
Ereli refused to comment on Chen's warning to Lien not to engage in state-to-state style negotiations during his trip, or whether the US was concerned that the KMT might act to undermine US policy.
"I don't have any comment to share with you on those discussions," he said.
Ereli also said he did not have enough information to say whether Taiwan or the Lien visit would come up in discussions in Beijing between incoming Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Christopher Hill and Chinese leaders.
Hill arrived in Beijing less than a week after he formally assumed the assistant secretary post, replacing James Kelly who left the department for the private sector earlier in the year.
Hill met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei (
Hill was to leave for Tokyo yesterday for further discussions on North Korea.
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
RSS