Former National Security Council secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) yesterday attributed China’s rejection of a proposed meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last year to Ma’s insistence on holding the meeting at the APEC summit in Beijing.
Ma’s insistence that the APEC summit would be the best venue for a meeting with his Chinese counterpart reflected how APEC’s membership is not predicated on the notion of sovereign nation states, but economic identities, King said in a radio interview, apparently suggesting that the meeting would therefore circumvent issues of sovereignty and equal status.
China rejected Ma’s proposal because Beijing was dissatisfied with his offer to meet with Xi at an international forum, King said.
Asked whether the rejection was related to the resignation of former Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) over charges of leaking confidential information to China, King said that while cross-strait relations appeared to be facing a bottleneck, it was absolutely unrelated to Chang’s case.
Ma’s achievements in improving cross-strait ties have gained wide recognition with US think tank members, academics and officials, who have praised his performance in this regard, King said.
Despite his being labeled “pro-China” and accused of “selling out Taiwan,” Ma’s stance on a meeting with Xi never changed, King added.
Asked if there are any other windows of opportunity for a Ma-Xi meeting, King said that the president would only propose such an encounter when the advantages of doing so outweigh the disadvantages and it would be beneficial to the nation and cross-strait relations.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
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MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
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