■ DEFENSE
Arms sale to proceed
The Obama administration will proceed with arms sales to Taiwan despite recent protests by China, a US official said on Tuesday. Speaking from Hawaii, American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Raymond Burghardt said that sales of arms to Taiwan were consistent with what White House officials have been saying was US President Barack Obama’s policy. “No one should be surprised when we move forward with them,” he said. Burghardt declined to say exactly when Obama would notify Congress of an arms sale. In the past week, Chinese officials and news organizations have expressed anger over reports that the Obama administration could notify Congress shortly of such arms sales. Notification is the final step in the process. US officials say China could break off military-to-military contacts with the US once notification is made as it did in October last year when the Bush administration sold Taiwan US$6.5 billion worth of weapons.
■ WEATHER
Cold air mass hits nation
A cold air mass from China sent temperatures falling through much of Taiwan yesterday and could push the mercury to below 10°C in northern and central areas this weekend, the Central Weather Bureau said. The cold air mass will envelop Taiwan completely beginning today, making the weather noticeably colder, and could linger over Taiwan until next week, a bureau forecaster said. Temperatures are expected to be about 18°C in the north and northeast, with lows of between 15°C and 16°C in central regions, between 22°C and 23°C in eastern regions and between 24°C and 25°C in the south and southeast.
■ IMMIGRATION
Tibetans on hunger strike
More than 30 Tibetan exiles in Taiwan have been on a hunger strike outside the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC) since late on Monday night to protest the commission not confirming their Tibetan status, which led to the National Immigration Agency’s (NIA) refusal to grant them residency. A total of 134 Tibetans living in Taiwan applied for residency earlier this year — 78 were granted residency while 56 were rejected because of insufficient proof of their status as Tibetans. The Tibetans who were denied residency asked whether the MTAC had double standards in assessing the proof of their Tibetan status. “How come some people received it, but others didn’t? There are even two brothers with the elder brother granted residency while the younger brother wasn’t,” Taiwan Tibetan Welfare Association chairman Jamga said. “I suspect that maybe only people on good terms with MTAC officials can get it.” MTAC rebutted the accusation and said that the individuals whose application were rejected could apply again if they have new evidence to prove their Tibetan status.
■ SOCIETY
Hope’s the word
“Hope” (pan, 盼) has been voted the Chinese character of the year in Taiwan, with many people believing a sustained period of crisis and disaster is finally coming to an end, a survey showed yesterday. It replaced “chaos” (luan, 亂), the character considered most representative of last year, and reflected how the mood in Taiwan has changed from pessimism to cautious optimism, said the Chinese-language United Daily News, which co-organized the poll. “This year we chose ‘hope’ over ‘chaos,’ symbolizing that Taiwan has bottomed out and is moving toward the light,” the paper said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard