A resolution has been introduced into the US’ 111th Congress calling for president-elect Barack Obama to establish diplomatic relations with Taiwan. It also calls for an end to the US’ “one China” policy and support for Taiwan’s full membership in international organizations.
While the resolution, which was written by long-time Taiwan supporter Congressman John Linder, a Republican from Georgia, has no realistic chance of changing US policies, it is important in that it keeps the issue alive and in the minds of the US’ top politicians.
A similar resolution was introduced in 2005 and 2007 by then congressman Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, who has since retired.
The US and Taiwan have not had official diplomatic ties since 1979 when Washington formally recognized China.
The new resolution asks Obama to recognize Taiwan as a sovereign and independent country separate from China.
It also says the president-elect should aggressively support Taiwan’s full participation at the UN and all other international organizations of which the US is a member.
“The introduction of Congressman Linder’s resolution during the first week of 2009 when the new Congress gets back to work is extraordinarily poignant as a reaffirmation of US Congress support for Taiwan,” said Bob Yang, president of the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs.
“Despite the severance of diplomatic ties by the US 30 years ago, Taiwan has flourished as a fledgling democracy with impressive economic achievements,” he said.
“The world recognizes Taiwan as a beacon of freedom. Separate recognition by the US of China and Taiwan could be a model for those nations which seek to align both countries in a mutual co-existing relationship,” Yang said.
Should the resolution ever come to a vote, it would be unlikely to attract more than the 151 ballots from the current members of the Taiwan caucus. It would need a majority of the 435 members to pass the House and would then face even more formidable odds in the 100-member US Senate, where it has not even been introduced.
A source close Obama’s foreign policy advisers told the Taipei Times: “Taiwan continues to enjoy many warm feelings in the US Congress. We are sensitive to the issue.”
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
RSS