■ Diplomacy
Chen blasts Beijing
The international community has neglected Taiwan's call for peace and democracy and tolerated China's build-up of military strength, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday while giving a speech at a New Year gathering for foreign ambassadors. Chen said the Taiwanese government has offered an olive branch to Beijing on more than 40 occasions since 2000 in a bid to resume dialogue but has not yet received any positive response. Chen said the imbalance in arms strength would further threaten democracy in Taiwan and other democratic communities in the Asia Pacific region. The common security interests of Japan and the US in the Western Pacific would also be damaged. "As a leader elected via a democratic process, I cannot tolerate the worsening situation. We hope the international community will support Taiwan's bid to defend universal values such as democracy," Chen said.
■ Diplomacy
Diplomats to be promoted
Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) said yesterday the ministry is considering whether to promote some of the country's diplomats in order to boost their level of representation and confidence when conducting foreign affairs on behalf of the country. Huang said that the ministry is considering filling up a number of vacancies for minister counselors in the country's 25 foreign embassies in order to boost the profile of Taiwanese diplomats. The minister said that youth should not be considered a hindrance to a diplomatic career and the government wouldn't be stingy in giving out titles to young diplomats as ability matters more than age. Minister counselor is one level below that of ambassador.
■ Diplomacy
MOFA warns journalists
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged the local media to apply for legal press permits when covering news in Middle Eastern countries following the arrest of a local TV journalist for illegal press activities by Iranian police. The CTI TV journalist Chin Lin-chien (秦綾謙) was arrested by the Iranian police for illegal reporting. She joined a local tour group to conduct news gathering but was later detained by local police, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported yesterday. The journalist has already been released, the report said. MOFA spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) urged the public to be aware of the uniqueness of Muslim culture and pay attention to the local customs of Middle Eastern countries.
■ Society
Patient needs identifying
The Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital in Hualien called on the public yesterday to help identify a woman aged about 35 who has been in a coma in the hospital's intensive care unit for nearly a month. A spokesman for the hospital said the woman was found unconscious on a roadside on Jan. 12 and was rushed to the hospital, where she has remained in a coma and on an artificial respirator ever since. The woman was not carrying an ID card or any other form of identification. She measures 158cm in height and weighs 59kg. As her name is not known, the hospital refers to her as "patient No. 86." The spokesman said that judging from the woman's features, she might be from Vietnam or another Southeast Asian country. He urged members of the public who might know the woman to help identify her so that the hospital can notify her family.
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
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
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard