Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
Hsieh, who returned from his 10-day trip to the US yesterday morning, told a press conference that he and the US officials he met -- from the US State Department, Department of Defense, the office of US Vice President Dick Cheney and important aides to both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party -- "had engaged each other in the most honest and effective communication."
Hsieh also said he conveyed to the US officials Taiwan's urgent need to solidify its national consciousness and it's feeling of being isolated in the world.
Hsieh said that he communicated the idea that the referendum on applying for UN membership under the name "Taiwan" is a necessary step to improve the nation's security.
"But we are also willing to find co-existence between Taiwan's interests and the US' interests," he said.
"The US is not against Taiwan's pursuit of democracy and our desire to be masters of our own fate through referendums," Hsieh said.
"What the US is concerned about is whether we respect it as a friend," he said.
"We need to create a win-win situation between the US and Taiwan," he said.
Hsieh said he told the US officials that the DPP was not pushing the UN bid to change the "status quo" but because "Taiwan needs to gain representation in the world."
"Based on the UN's principles, it is very strange that the 23 million people in Taiwan are not represented in there," he said.
Hsieh said reasons for pushing the UN bid under the name "Taiwan" include the nation's many failed attempts to join the UN under the name "Republic of China," the fact that the People's Republic of China does not represent Taiwan and that the name "Taiwan" is better known around the world than "Republic of China."
"It is OK that they [the international community] call us `Chinese Taipei.' Of course we can also be called `Taiwan,'" he said.
Hsieh said many factors had contributed to the low mutual trust between the US and Taiwan over the past seven years, adding that Taiwan's delayed arms procurement was one of them.
Hsieh criticized Chinese Nationalist Party counterpart Ma Ying-jeou (
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
RSS