The three co-chairmen of the US Congressional Taiwan Caucus have urged US President George W. Bush to muzzle his foreign policy aides and prevent them from making further statements opposing the planned referendum on Taiwan's UN membership in the run-up to the presidential election on March 22.
The congressmen, in a letter sent on March 5, said they were disturbed by the anti-referendum statements that key State Department officials have made in recent months.
"The United States' repeated high-volume opposition to the referendum casts doubt on our willingness to stand up for democracy and undermines our position as a champion of democracy in East Asia," the lawmakers wrote.
Steve Chabot, Shelley Berkley and Dana Rohrabacher were the signatories of the letter.
In the letter, they urged the Bush administration to "remain silent on this issue for the remainder of the ongoing presidential election campaign in Taiwan."
"The US should not be perceived as taking sides and should let the democratic process in Taiwan run its course," the letter said.
Many observers both in Washington and Taiwan have interpreted the administration's vocal criticism of the referendum as a sign that the administration favors Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
While the administration has rejected the idea that it favors one candidate over the other, many observers feel that just by voicing opposition to the referendum the administration is helping to give Ma a leg up in the election.
The congressmen's letter describes the referendum as "a great exercise in democracy."
"We are pleased by the great strides toward democracy that Taiwan has made in the past few decades and see this referendum as a milestone along their journey," they wrote.
A copy of the letter was sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who twice in recent months has voiced opposition to the referendum, calling it "provocative policy" in a new year's press conference in December, and saying that "it should not be held," in a joint press conference in Beijing recently with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (楊潔箎).
Her deputy, John Negroponte has also made statements condemning the referendum, including in an interview with a Hong Kong-based Chinese television station and in a press conference during a visit to Beijing.
The three Taiwan caucus co-chairs sent their letter just one day after the House of Representatives approved virtually unanimously a resolution praising Taiwan's democracy and voicing support and admiration for Taiwan's elections, democracy overall and close US-Taiwan friendship.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS