The Republican Party of Texas is calling for full diplomatic recognition of Taiwan “as an independent and sovereign nation.”
The party’s Platform Resolution Committee earlier this month unanimously passed the Taiwan resolution and it has now been adopted as part of this year’s Texas Republican Party manifesto.
It will eventually be considered by the party at a national level and while it has little chance of being adopted as the policy for a future Republican president, it reflects the party’s sympathies and support for Taiwan.
“We urge Congress to work with the Taiwanese government to preserve and enhance the human rights of all people,” the resolution says.
Party insiders said that the human rights wording was a direct reference to the case of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) continued incarceration on a corruption conviction despite his dire medical condition. There is a lot of support in Texas for Chen’s release on medical parole.
Texas Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, has led the fight in Washington to sell new F-16 C/D jets to Taiwan, but has been unable to convince US President Barack Obama’s administration.
The F-16 is built by Lockheed Martin and most of the manufacturing and assembly takes place in Texas. A sale of up to 66 F-16s to Taiwan could mean thousands of jobs for Texas.
“In the face of China’s aggressive military modernization and the belligerent attitude towards Taiwan, these F-16 fighters have become increasingly important and also highly symbolic for Taiwan,” Cornyn said in a statement last year.
“I have been disappointed that Taiwan seems to have backed off of its pursuit for new F-16s, especially after so many of its friends in Congress went out on a limb to help them,” he added. “When it comes to Taiwan’s military capabilities, there seems to be a puzzling sense of complacency in Taipei. Taiwan needs to wake up and realize that, as the threat from China grows, so grows Taiwan’s vulnerability.”
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 US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative.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
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to 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), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner