Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) yesterday said that Taipei did not intend to "surprise" the US with President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) remarks on abolishing the National Unification Council and the unification guidelines, despite Washington's call for Taipei to stop unsettling US-Taiwan relations.
Huang said yesterday that in Chen's remarks to his supporters in Tainan County on Jan. 30, he only mentioned that Taiwan should "seriously consider" scrapping the National Unification Council and Guidelines for National Unification and therefore it did not constitute a surprise because the president did not say it's a "done decision."
"If we tell the US after we've decided to [scrap the Unification Council and guidelines], then that's a surprise," Huang said.
Huang made the remarks yesterday during the ceremony to mark the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' award of a special diplomatic service medal to former foreign minister Mark Chen (陳唐山), who is now secretary-general of the Presidential Office.
In response to a local Chinese-language newspaper report that the US did not accept the explanation given by Taiwanese authorities regarding Chen's remarks, Huang said "it's too early to say whether the US was unsatisfied" as Taipei and Washington are still in communication regarding the issue.
The foreign minister admitted, however, that Washington did want Taipei to further clarify the issue and said the government has been actively explaining, both by talking to the press here and communicating with the US through private channels.
The foreign ministry has been busy communicating with the US over the past few days since the president made the remarks on the first day of the Lunar New Year. The AIT also sent its spokeswoman Dana Shell Smith to gather information regarding the issue on Thursday.
Ministry staff and officials in charge of relations with the US said they had been conducting emergency measures to "extinguish the fire" by stressing the president's ideas were a preliminary thought and nothing concrete.
High-ranking officials from different governmental departments also convened emergency meetings to try to set the tone for the issue as Secretary-General of the National Security Council Chiou I-ren (邱義仁), Vice Premier Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Foreign Minister Huang and Chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) met in the foreign ministry on Thursday morning to decide on a unified response to the issue.
The meeting concluded that the foreign ministry would reiterate that Taiwan's stance is consistent with that of the US on cross-strait relations and the MAC would focus on attacking the necessity of the National Unification Council.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai