President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday stressed the “six assurances” issued by the US government and said the government will continue arms procurements with the US to safeguard national security.
“Although cross-strait developments have reached their most peaceful stage in 64 years, it does not mean we do not face national security threats. We will continue to purchase arms from the US,” he said during a visit to Kinmen.
Ma’s comments came amid Chinese media reports that the US has given a “positive response” to a Chinese government proposal to discuss such arms sales with Beijing.
PHOTO: AFP / Taiwan Presidential Office
The president reiterated the “six assurances,” under which the US government promised not to set a date for the termination of arms sales to Taiwan, nor to hold prior consultation with China regarding such arms sales, and said the US has denied the Chinese media reports.
Washington has clarified that US-China working groups would be set up to deal with issues of mutual concern, but said that arms sales to Taiwan are not set to be covered, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Ma made the remarks while visiting Kinmen to attend a ceremony marking the 55th anniversary of an artillery battle between then Republic of China military and the People’s Republic of China.
The president rang a peace bell at a memorial service for soldiers and civilians killed in the conflict, that began on Aug. 23, 1958.
Later yesterday while meeting members of the US Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Ma thanked the US for its firm stance on arms procurement deals with Taiwan, and reiterated that his administration will continue purchasing arms from the US to maintain Taiwan’s national defense capabilities.
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