Comments by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on cross-strait issues were “interesting” and “constructive,” and Washington looks forward to hearing more from her, a senior US official said on Monday.
US Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Asia Evan Medeiros said he follows what Tsai has to say about cross-strait issues very closely.
“I thought her recent comments were quite interesting and quite constructive, and we look forward to hearing more from her about what her approach is all about,” Medeiros said during a briefing on the US visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Tsai, who is the DPP’s candidate for next year’s presidential election, has said that her party’s basic principle in handling cross-strait relations is “maintaining the status quo.”
Tsai also said she is confident of her ability to handle cross-strait ties well and would try to “avoid accidents” and would not provoke “contradictions, confrontations or conflicts.”
As in the previous presidential campaign four years ago, when she was also the DPP’s candidate, Tsai is expected to visit Washington in the run-up to the presidential election in January next year.
Regarding a planned visit to China by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), Medeiros said the US supports any cross-strait interactions that are conducted at a pace and in a manner acceptable to both sides and in a way that ensures continued cross-strait stability.
He noted that China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) wrote an opinion piece in the People’s Daily in which he talked about being open to interactions and conversations with all circles of Taiwanese society.
“We think that’s an important, constructive step as Taiwan enters into its election period,” Medeiros said.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
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