Taiwan’s new representative to the US, Jason Yuan (袁健生), said upon arriving in Washington on Monday that he expected the US government would eventually approve pending sales of defensive weapons to Taiwan and that he would restore mutual trust between the two sides.
Yuan received a warm welcome from 100 Taiwanese officials and expatriates upon his arrival at the airport on Monday.
Barbara Schrage, managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan, was also present to welcome Yuan.
Schrage said at the airport that the US and Taiwan had long had a solid relationship and that she hoped bilateral relations would become even more robust.
REBUILDING TRUST
At the airport, Yuan said he would use his sincerity to rebuild mutual trust.
As bilateral relations are solid, he said rebuilding trust should not be too difficult, but that it would take time.
Questioned about Washington’s reported “freeze” on the sales of weapons to Taiwan, Yuan told reporters that US government agencies — including the Department of State, the Department of Defense and the National Security Council — had never used the term “freeze.”
Yuan said the US is a country that follows the law and that the Taiwan Relations Act is “a US law.”
As a result, he said he did not believe that any US government official would violate the act and freeze arms deals with Taiwan.
Yuan said he believed that after the US Congress reconvenes, the US government would notify it of its approval of the long-delayed arms package sale to Taiwan.
NO BLOCK
He said he believed Congress would not block the approval.
Congress will adjourn on Sept. 26, meaning the notification — which Congress has 30 days to respond to — would have to be submitted later this month if the arms deal were to be finalized this year.
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
The government yesterday donated US$200,000 to the Philippines to support post-earthquake relief and recovery efforts, following a powerful magnitude 6.9 quake that struck Cebu Province late last month, killing at least 72 people and injuring 559 others. The donation was presented earlier yesterday by Representative to the Philippines Wallace Chow (周民淦) to Cherbett Maralit, deputy resident representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, at Taiwan’s representative office in Manila. In his remarks, Chow expressed concern for those affected by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck the central Philippines on the night of Sept. 30. "We sincerely hope for the earliest possible