Foreign Minister Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) said yesterday that the nation has suffered no harm since proposing a “diplomatic truce” with China, but pledged that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would not be slack and would focus on Taiwan’s participation in the WHO.
Ou made the remarks at a reception for the media in which he defended President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) strategy of seeking a “diplomatic truce”with Beijing.
“In order to remove the ultimate cause of Taiwan’s diplomatic predicament, the best way is to improve cross-strait relations,” Ou said, adding that China had no reason not to accept the truce as it was in Beijing’s national interest.
Admitting that it was very difficult for Taiwan to participate in international organizations at present, Ou said that “the Foreign Ministry will gather its strength in one direction — that is the WHO bid.”
“We hope that concrete results will be realized in two to three years,” he said.
Ou said that participation in international organizations was a complicated issue for Taiwan that would take time to achieve. Therefore, the ministry would treat the issue as a long-term objective and would do all it could to achieve the goal.
Noting that the concept of a “diplomatic truce,” one of the major underpinnings of Ma’s new diplomatic policy, had been criticized and questioned by many people, Ou reiterated that the strategy did not mean the ministry would take a vacation and that everything that needed to be done was being carried out.
“The ‘diplomatic truce’ is just a strategy and a means to pursue diplomatic co-existence and co-prosperity, which is exactly what President Ma’s ‘modus vivendi’ means,” he said.
“Modus vivendi comes in many forms, the most concrete of which is the diplomatic truce,” Ou said, adding that “there would be no co-existence and co-prosperity if the diplomatic strife between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait continues.”
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all