Regardless of the state of Washington-Taipei, Washington-Beijing or cross-strait ties, US-China-Taiwan relations are stable, American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Raymond Burghardt said on Sunday.
Communication between Taipei and Washington has been close and smooth, Burghardt said at a news conference held prior to a lecture dinner hosted by a Bay Area Taiwanese chamber of commerce.
Taiwan has economic strength and is an important trading partner of the US, Burghardt said. Besides bilateral business cooperation, Taiwan's achievement in democratization is even more worthy of respect, he said, adding that the nation's strenuous efforts to accelerate democratization have strengthened the US commitment to supporting Taiwan.
Burghardt, who accompanied President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on a flight from San Francisco to Nicaragua early this month, said the US government does its best to accommodate Taiwanese leaders' requests for transit stops in the US as long as their requests are reasonable.
He said Chen's most recent US transit stops during his visit to Nicaragua earlier this month were very smooth, adding that Chen met with several US academics and former US officials, including former US secretary of defense William Perry, during his stopovers.
During the talks at Chen's presidential suite during his 16-hour transit stop in San Francisco, Perry told Chen that the US government had done the right thing when it dispatched two aircraft carrier groups to the Taiwan Strait in response to China's missile tests in the area in March 1996 ahead of Taiwan's presidential election because the election was important to the governments of both the US and Taiwan.
Burghardt said that the US' stance that it expects Chen to stick faithfully to his "five noes" pledge made in his inauguration speech in May 2000, namely, that as long as Beijing has no intention of using military force against Taiwan, he will not declare independence, not change Taiwan's name, not add the state-to-state theory into the Constitution, not promote a referendum to change the status quo on independence or unification and not scrap the National Unification Guidelines during his term of office.
Meanwhile, on Chen's plans to enable Taiwan to enter the UN under the title of "Taiwan," Burghardt said he did not think it was a realistic idea, at least not in the current international political environment.
He said that this kind of issue, due to sovereignty disputes between Taipei and Beijing, was not an issue for the US to tackle.
Burghardt also said that Washington was keeping its "one China" policy and added that the US would not play the role of "intermediary" between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
He also declined to comment on the presidential election next year, saying that it was Taiwan's own business and it was still too early to tell which party would field who in the race.
Burghardt is expected to pay a visit to Taiwan after the Lunar New Year in a bid to push for the passage of the long-stalled arms procurement bill.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
RSS