In an interview published in the Indian quarterly India and Global Affairs yesterday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he hoped that a cross-strait peace accord could be reached during his term in office.
Ma said there was no timetable in setting up a mechanism for mutual military trust or signing a peace agreement between China and Taiwan. He said that weekend chartered flight services and allowing more Chinese tourists were his administration’s priorities and were accomplished in July. The next step was the push for direct air and sea links, normalization of cross-strait economic relations, and then international participation and a peace agreement, he said.
Negotiating solutions to these issues could not be achieved in the short term, but Ma said he was willing to do his best and hoped to accomplish them during his term.
Ma made the remarks in response to a question asked by the magazine as to whether he would see the more than 1,000 Chinese missiles aimed at Taiwan removed during his presidency.
The interview was conducted in written form in August.
The Presidential Office said yesterday that Ma was stressing that he wanted to achieve these goals during his term in office, but that it was not a formal promise or statement.
In the interview, when asked if the failure to pass the referendums on the UN and constitutional amendments meant that Taiwan would give up these efforts, Ma said it only meant that the Taiwanese people still had different opinions on the name and method to be used for a UN membership bid.
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday. The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 14 as Specially Designated Nationals as a result of a US federal court indictment. Prince Holding founder Chen Zhi (陳志) has been charged with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding’s suspected forced-labor camps in Cambodia, the indictment says. Intelligence shared between Taiwan,
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
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