The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday welcomed a White House statement calling on Beijing to find ways of reaching out to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his Cabinet, as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) prepared for talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
Remarking that Washington has been following developments in the region very closely, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said in a press conference on Wednesday that the US believes diplomacy is the only way to resolve the cross-strait dilemma.
Commenting on Lien's trip to China, McClellan said the White House hopes that "this is the start of Beijing finding new ways to reach out to President Chen and his Cabinet, because a long-term solution can only be found if Beijing negotiates with the duly elected leadership in Taiwan."
MAC Vice Chairman You Ying-lung (
You said China should engage in dialogue with the Taiwanese government as soon as possible so that cross-strait relations can be normalized.
"Governments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have to be engaged in dialogues and negotiations in order to efficiently resolve issues that only governments have the power to address," You said.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michel Lu (
"The US encourages both sides to start official talks and hopes that dialogues can bring peace and stability to the Taiwan Strait," Lu said.
The ministry hopes to see positive developments in cross-strait relations, said Lu, adding that political leaders should hold on to the principle of "maintaining national interests" when visiting China.
Taiwan's political party leaders should not break the law while meeting with Chinese leaders, Lu said.
Meanwhile, David Lee (
The WHA, the World Health Organization's (WHO) highest governing body, will take place from May 16 to 25 in Geneva. Taiwan will launch its ninth bid to enter the health body in the assembly. The US, WHO secretariat, Taipei and Beijing are negotiating [about Taiwan's participation in the WHO]. But Taipei and Beijing do not talk to each other directly, the diplomat said.
Taiwan’s growing defense preparations might be sending a stronger signal to the US than to Beijing, highlighting the need for Taipei to tailor its deterrence efforts to different audiences, a US security academic said yesterday. Stanford University Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies fellow Oriana Skylar Mastro made the comment during a Taipei Security Dialogue panel examining lessons Taiwan could draw from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Mastro said she was impressed by Taiwan’s increased defense spending, emphasis on asymmetric capabilities and efforts to prepare society for conflict, but questioned whom those initiatives were influencing. She said when she asked
A total of 400 foreign “high- level” professionals have been naturalized as Republic of China (Taiwan) citizens over the past decade as the government has eased nationality rules to attract talent from a wider range of fields, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The 400th high-level professional, who works in the electronics industry, was approved for ROC citizenship on Aug. 26, the MOI said. The MOI quoted the newly naturalized citizen as saying that Taiwan is a leader in fields such as semiconductors, electronics manufacturing, artificial intelligence development and energy technology. He also said
SIZE MATTERS: Large ships are politically attractive as visible symbols of national defense, but small surface combatants are more likely to survive an initial strike Taiwan needs to restructure its naval fleet from focusing on large warships, which are “sitting ducks” for China’s advanced tracking technology, to smaller, stealthy corvettes that are harder to detect but retain sufficient firepower to deter a Chinese invasion, a Taiwanese academic and a former US military commander said in an article published on Friday in the journal Foreign Affairs. Taiwan does not need a fleet capable of competing with the Chinese navy for traditional control of the Taiwan Strait, but rather “sea denial” capabilities that would prevent China from freely using the waterway, Taiwanese aerospace and security expert Holmes Liao
China has warned that it could cancel a planned US-China leaders’ summit if Washington approves new arms sales to Taiwan, a Japanese media outlet quoted sources as saying yesterday. US President Donald Trump, “apparently eager to showcase some diplomatic achievements ahead of November’s midterm congressional elections, places great importance on holding the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平),” Japan’s Kyodo News reported. “While preparing for Xi’s upcoming trip, China has restated its position that the Taiwan issue is a ‘red line’ in bilateral relations,” the report said. The report said that when Xi met with Trump in Beijing in May, Xi said
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