President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) called on the US yesterday to heed the opinion of the American public, a majority of whom were said to support Taiwan's bid to join the UN.
Citing a Zogby International poll conducted from Sept. 6 to Sept. 10, Chen said that 55 percent of Americans agreed that Taiwan should be granted UN membership.
That number rose to 70 percent when the question was whether the US should not oppose Taiwan's UN bid if a referendum on UN membership were held.
"Can US leaders turn a blind eye to opinion of their people?" Chen asked. "Can the US president and US government disregard them?"
Chen made the remarks while meeting with representatives of local charters of the Lions Club, Kiwanis International and the Rotary Club at the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon.
He said the US government's refusal to support Taiwan's UN membership bid did not matter, but that Washington's attempt to smother the voice of Taiwanese on the matter baffled him.
"I don't understand why they can call us Taiwan while we can't," he said. "It was the US government that changed our country's name on our passport. They can change the `status quo' but we cannot say Taiwan out loud. Why?"
In related developments, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said the proposed referendums on Taiwan's UN membership bid could endanger the country if they were not handled properly. Lee made the remarks in an interview with the Taiwan Church Press on Saturday and published yesterday.
While the Democratic Progressive Party has proposed holding a referendum on joining the UN under the name "Taiwan," the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has suggested to "return" to the UN and join other international organizations using the country's official name -- "Republic of China" -- or any other "practical" title that would uphold the country's dignity.
Lee said that confrontation between the two parties has caused political instability and that only the "middle way" could help resolve the problem. It was a pity that most politicians seem to pay more attention to power than to the changes in the international system, Lee said.
REPORT: Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining loitering munitions matching the AeroVironment Switchblade 300 or the Anduril Altius-600, ‘Foreign Policy’ said Taiwan is seeking US-made kamikaze drones in an apparent concession to pressure from Washington to focus on asymmetric capabilities to defeat or deter a Chinese attack, Foreign Policy said in a report on Wednesday. Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining AeroVironment Switchblade loitering munitions or other devices with similar capabilities, it said, citing four sources familiar with the matter commenting on condition of anonymity. The Switchblade 300 is a tube-launched drone designed for attacking ground troops, while its larger sibling, the Switchblade 600, could be used to destroy tanks and entrenched troops. Ukraine has utilized both systems extensively in its fight against
Police officers yesterday morning apprehended the prime suspect of a triple homicide case, after raiding the suspect’s hideout in Taichung. They transported the suspect to New Taipei City for questioning and recorded his statement last night. The suspect, identified as a 24-year-old man surnamed Chang (張), is believed to have used his hands to strangle his wife, surnamed Chen (陳), 29, along with his three-year-old son from a previous marriage and his wife’s mother, 69. The three dead bodies were wrapped in blankets when they were discovered inside their apartment in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) on Saturday. Chang was holding a
Hungarian Member of Parliament Tompos Marton said he considers Taiwan to be a better alternative to China as a strategic partner. Marton, who is the vice president of the opposition Momentum Party, made the remarks in an interview with the Central News Agency on Sunday. He draped a Republic of China flag across his shoulders to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) visit to the capital city, Budapest, on Thursday last week, and openly voiced support for Taiwan on social media. He said in the interview that he wanted to remind the world that there were alternatives to China, and that “Taiwan has
A female physician at New Taipei City’s Shuang Ho Hospital was bullied and made to work for 32 consecutive hours by a senior colleague while pregnant before later having a miscarriage, an internal investigation found, the hospital said on Monday. The perpetrator has been removed from his post, the hospital said. The attending physician in the hospital’s Medical Imaging Department, identified by the pseudonym Y, earlier on Monday told reporters that she had been bullied by a male senior colleague who arranged shifts in her department. In January, shortly after she became pregnant, Y asked the department director if she could avoid overnight