Calling himself a "new Taiwanese," American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Stephen Young refused to be labeled green, blue or red during the recent political brouhaha, saying that his true colors were red, white and blue -- the colors of the US flag.
"I am none of those colors [green, blue or red]. You all [people of Taiwan] don't make that easy but that's what I try and do every day," Young said last Thursday at a press conference in Taipei.
During the press conference, which Young held to convey the US government's perspective on the arms budgets before the Legislative Yuan, he said that the US expected Taiwan to pass the arms procurement bills this fall.
PHOTO: WALLY SANTANA, AP
Young's remarks created a fierce backlash in local political circles.
Lawmakers in the pan-blue camp accusing him of "interfering" in Taiwan's internal affairs.
They encouraged their supporters to "paralyze" AIT's offices with telephone calls. Other anti-arms sales groups held protests in front of the AIT's Taipei office on Xinyi Road.
Others, such as Chiang Ming-chin (
Still others commented that Young's attitude is what Taiwanese politics lacks -- the ability to put national interests above personal or political interests.
"I think what Young expressed last Thursday was US policy rather than expressing a personal like or dislike for either the pan-green or pan-blue camps," said Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), a research fellow in political science at Academia Sinica.
"Young is a professional diplomat and he pretty much voiced the US government's long-term stance on the arms budgets," Hsu said.
He said that although the pan-blue camp reacted strongly to Young's remarks, it may not have noticed one crucial message that Washington wanted to reveal through Young -- that the US is making an evaluation of potential new leaders in Taiwan.
"I believe that the US is evaluating who will be the future leader of Taiwan and who of them is willing to cooperate with the US to resist China," Hsu said.
Yu Pen-li (尤本立), an assistant professor at the Graduate Institute of American Studies at Tamkang University, said pan-blue lawmakers overreacted to Young's remarks, pointing out that the envoy was simply playing his role as the US government's messenger.
"I think Young's statement had nothing to with his inclination for certain political parties in Taiwan. To the US, the arms budgets should be an issue that transcends partisan politics," Yu said.
Although pan-blue lawmakers said that Young had hurt the feelings of the people of Taiwan, the diplomat may be the only AIT director willing to be so involved in Taiwanese life and activities.
Young, 55, assumed his position as AIT director on March 18. However, this is not his first time in Taiwan but his fifth.
Young, who served as US ambassador to Kyrgyzstan from 2003 to last year, had been deputy AIT director from 1998 to 2001.
But Young first came to Taiwan at the age of 12 with his father, who served as a military adviser to the Republic of China army in Kaohsiung from 1963 to 1965.
Young climbed Yushan (
Young speaks good Mandarin and is learning to speak Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese).
He is also the veteran of many marathons and took only 19 minutes and 35 seconds to scale Taipei 101 two weeks ago.
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