China yesterday protested against proposed US$2.2 billion US weapons sales to Taiwan, urging Washington to cancel the deal and end its ties with the Taiwanese military.
"The Chinese side strongly opposes the sales of weapons to Taiwan by the US government," a foreign ministry spokeswoman said. "This constitutes rude interference in China's internal affairs. The Chinese side strongly protests against this and has raised solemn representations with the United States."
ARMS PACKAGE
PHOTO: EPA
The Pentagon announced last week possible sales to Taiwan of a dozen Lockheed P-3C Orion anti-submarine patrol aircraft and SM-2 anti-aircraft missiles.
"The proposed sale will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance and economic progress in the region," the US Defense Security and Cooperation Agency said in a statement.
VIOLATION
The Chinese foreign ministry said the sales violated US commitments to respect Beijing as the sole legal government of all of China, including Taiwan, and to gradually end weapons sales.
"We urge the US side to implement with real actions its solemn commitments on the Taiwan issue, immediately cancel the weapons sales to the Taiwan military, end all weapons sales and contacts with the Taiwanese side and stop sending wrong signals to Taiwan," she said. "The Chinese side reserves the right to adopt further measures."
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. A single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 800,000 to 400,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, sabre-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
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