Former US secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld arrived in Taipei on Sunday to attend the Republic of China’s centennial celebrations yesterday and to participate in meetings with several officials and academics.
After his arrival, Rumsfeld met Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) and exchanged views on security in the Asia-Pacific region and Taipei-Washington ties. Rumsfeld and Yang also held a press conference in the evening.
Asked about whether it is in the long-term interest of the US not to sell Taiwan more advanced weapons, Rumsfeld said the US would continue reviewing Taiwan’s requests for advanced weapons.
The relationship between the two sides has been “one where the various requests have been made by the government here and the US government has accepted the fact that we have an obligation and responsibility to review those requests,” Rumsfeld said, adding that he believes the situation will continue.
In addition to attending the Double Ten National Day ceremony yesterday, Rumsfeld is scheduled to meet President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) during his three-day visit.
Rumsfeld, who resigned as defense secretary to former US president George W. Bush in November 2006, will also attend a luncheon held by the -Taipei-based Prospect Foundation today, at which he will deliver a speech titled “21st Century Challenges in the Pacific and Beyond,” before wrapping up his visit later that day.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai