President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) did not step out of the plane during a brief stopover in the US state of Alaska on his way to Central America yesterday -- a gesture described by accompanying Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers as a "silent protest" against the US.
Media reports have said that Washington has refused to allow Chen to set foot in the continental US or stay overnight during the transit stops as a way of expressing its displeasure with Taiwan's plan to push for a referendum on applying to join the UN using the name "Taiwan."
During a 50-minute transit in Alaska yesterday, Presidential Office spokesman David Lee (
protest
However, DPP Legislator Tang Bi-a (
Chen received honorary chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan William Brown and Alaska Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell on board, with a sticker that read "UN for Taiwan" on his shirt and another one on his seat, Tang said.
Chen was quoted as saying in his meeting with Brown that he found the transit in Alaska "inconvenient, uncomfortable, unsatisfactory, and [felt] unrespected."
Taiwan will not criticize the US, Chen said, but the US' treatment of the delegation should not be viewed as a punishment for him alone but for the nation's 23 million citizens.
insult?
In response, Brown was quoted as saying that it was not the US' intention to insult Chen.
Chen told Brown that if the US was willing, it could have sent a special delegation from the defense or state departments to Taiwan for a dialogue to resolve differences.
Prior to his departure from Taipei yesterday for a three-nation visit to Central America, which includes brief stopovers in Alaska en route to and from the region, Chen reaffirmed at the Taoyuan International Airport his resolve to safeguard Taiwanese's right to hold a referendum on the nation's bid to join the UN.
Chen said Taiwan would continue to communicate with the US to try to sort out their differences on the referendum issue, adding that he did not want the issue to complicate his US transit plan and blur the focus of his Central America visit.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS