A former senior US official suggested Taiwan should work to strengthen its communication mechanism with high-ranking US officials, and not rely solely on the American Insititute in Taiwan (AIT) as the medium to convey messages to the US government, according to a Central News Agency (CNA) article yesterday.
That way, Washington can better understand the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government and its efforts to promote such issues as the special arms procurement budget bill, former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage said, according to CNA.
Armitage made the remarks during a meeting with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who was in Miami en route to Latin America. Aside from Armitage, Chen also received visits from a number of former high-ranking US officials during his transit in Miami.
According to the CNA report, Armitage said that part of the reason Taiwan-US relations were not so smooth was because the Bush administration did not know the DPP government nor the party's culture very well.
Because the US government had been dealing with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government in the past, it didn't understand that DPP officials mostly had a history of being activists, and are very different from KMT officials, Armitage was reported as saying during his meeting with Chen.
Given that the current Bush administration group of officials in charge of cross-strait affairs is new, Armitage suggested Taiwanese government officials, including national security staff members, should establish a diverse and frequent coordination system. Dependence on AIT as Taiwan's sole channel of communication would not be very helpful if Taiwan wanted to form closer ties with the US government.
He said that the Bush administration, immediately after taking office, passed the arms procurement case in 2001 in an attempt to stabilize cross-strait relations, because the was concerned about China's attitude toward Taiwan after the DPP administration came to power.
To expedite the passage of the arms procurement package in the Legislative Yuan, moving the items from the special budget into the general budget would be a good way, Armitage said.
Armitage stressed that the DPP government should explain its efforts to promote the arms procurement package to the US government, so that it understands DPP government's intention to maintain a peaceful cross-strait relationship.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese