A US official denied that President George W. Bush had called President Chen Shui-bian (
The US official told the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington that Bush did not make any such comment.
The statement was made to put to rest concerns over remarks by Jia Qinglin (
Jia said that Bush had described Chen as a troublemaker in his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Jia made this comment when he received a Taiwanese delegation, led by Jenny Ma (馬愛珍), chairwoman of the Taiwan Women Entrepreneurs Association, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
It was learned that Taipei's representatives to the US on Wednesday had checked with a US Department of State official who knew the content of the Bush-Hu meeting. After cross-checking the meeting record, the US official said, as far as he understood, Bush did not describe Chen as a "troublemaker."
The US reportedly also felt annoyed by Jia's comment. It is generally believed that Jia has attempted to play the US card to affect Taiwan's presidential election next March, while trying to avoid arousing resentment among Taiwanese by having Beijing intervene directly.
It was understood, according to the US official, that Bush had reiterated the US pledge to abide by the "one China" policy during the meeting with Hu. Bush also expressed his opposition to Taiwan declaring independence, according to the US official.
It is known that "not supporting Taiwan's independence" is the wording Bush's aides used in the information sheets they prepared for the US president. But Bush said both "not supporting Taiwan's independence" and "opposing Taiwan's independence" in his meeting with the Chinese leader. Neither the White House nor the State Department corrected Bush's statement.
However, Bush has never publicly expressed his opposition to Taiwan's independence.
Bush did not clarify himself when Hu told the press after their meeting that Bush had said he "opposes Taiwan independence." Nor did senior White House officials try to offer explanations in the briefing following the Bush-Hu talks.
The US official merely said Bush had told Hu that the US doesn't support Taiwan moving toward independence.
The official also reiterated an earlier statement by National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice that the US doesn't want either side of the Taiwan Strait changing the status quo unilaterally in a way that would upset peace and stability.
Translated by Jackie Lin
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS