US President George W. Bush was not worried that his praise of Taiwan as an example of a country that was under a repressive government and then liberalized would irritate China, a senior White House official said on Tuesday.
Mike Green, senior director for Asian affairs on the National Security Council, made the remarks in reply to a media question during a briefing in Kyoto before Bush mentioned Taiwan in a speech.
"The president ... is going to talk about his freedom agenda in a universal sense -- that countries that are successful economically, in order to continue being successful, are going to have to give their people opportunities to worship freely, to own property freely, to express themselves freely," Green said.
These are "elements of a strong and stable society," and there are examples across Asia where countries have found that they're stronger when they've done that, he said.
In his speech, Bush cited South Korea and Taiwan, "because Taiwan is an important example that this kind of pattern knows no cultural or historic line," Green said.
He said the point is not to lecture China or any other country in the region about what kind of system they should have exactly, but rather to make the point that Asia has had a pretty good run -- there has been peace and stability, as well as economic prosperity -- and that if countries want to keep being successful, these other elements are going to have to be brought into the political process.
Green acknowledged that the Chinese are sensitive but that Bush was not worried about antagonizing them with these words, which he said will be repeated when the president is in Beijing, because "we approach this from the premise that US-China relations are good and that we're committed to making them better, and that President Hu [Jintao] (
"So it's in that context and done in a way to explain what else will help China succeed," Green said.
Beijing, however, yesterday deflected Bush's call to embrace democracy and religious freedom.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (
"Chinese people enjoy all forms of democracy and freedom under law, including freedom of religion and belief," Liu said.
"We hope to increase consensus and mutual confidence through President Bush's visit," he said.
China was willing to discuss its human rights "on the basis of equality, mutual respect, and non-interference in internal affairs," Liu said.
But Liu said China need not take Taiwan as its model.
"Taiwan has its circumstances, and the mainland has its circumstances," he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS