US President George W. Bush voiced "deep concern" on Tuesday at European plans to lift a 15-year arms embargo on China, as it emerged the EU is drafting a plan to try to allay Washington's fears. \n"There is deep concern in our country that a transfer of weapons would be a transfer of technology to China which would change the balance of relations in between China and Taiwan," Bush said. \nTalks on the issue in Brussels with European leaders had been "constructive and open," he said, but signalled Washington might take punitive steps against the EU if it ends the ban. \nAlthough he said he was open to EU efforts to draw up a plan to make lifting the 15-year-old embargo more palatable to Washington, he added skeptically: "Whether they can or not, we'll see." \nThe EU imposed the ban on military hardware exports after the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. \nBut now the EU wants to lift the embargo with an eye firmly on the booming Chinese economy. \nIn December, at an EU-China summit in The Hague, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) urged the scrapping of the embargo, calling it a relic of the Cold War. \nEU leaders had indicated that the arms embargo was likely to be lifted under the bloc's current Luxembourg president, which ends in June. \nBut the US says this will give China access to high-tech military know-how and firepower that would threaten Taiwan. \nA US Congress resolution passed earlier this month warned that lifting the ban would "place EU security policy in direct conflict with United States security interests and with the security interests of United States' friends and allies in the Asia and Pacific region." \nIt warned of "limitations and constraints" on government and industrial relations between the US and Europe if the ban is lifted. \nFrench President Jacques Chirac said the ban "is no longer justified" but that it should be lifted "under conditions that Europe and the US define together." \nThe EU should avoid disagreement with the US over lifting the arms embargo against China while Europe is attempting a raproaochment with the US, Graham Watson, Chairman of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament, was quoted by the Central News Agency (CNA) as saying. \nA senior diplomat in Paris told CNA he expected the embargo against China to remain in place in "for a while" as a result of Bush's visit and his expressed concern. \nAlso see story: \nBeijing offers Pentagon a hotline
Three cases of Candida auris, a fungus that can cause a yeast infection known as candidiasis in humans, have been reported in Taiwan over the past few years, but they did not display drug resistance, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said yesterday. Lo made the statement at a news conference in Taipei, one day after the Washington Post reported that the potentially deadly fungus is spreading in US hospitals. The fungus was first discovered in Japan in 2009 and poses a danger to immunocompromised people, with an estimated mortality rate of 30 to 60 percent, Lo
‘COINCIDENCE’: The former president should keep in mind local and global response to his actions and abide by the law to safeguard national interests, the MAC said The Presidential Office yesterday confirmed that it has received an application from former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to visit China next week and would be discussing his security detail. “As the travel restrictions on former president Ma have expired, we respect his plan to pay respect to his ancestors in China,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said. “We will review his travel plan and consult concerned agencies to assist him in arranging his security detail.” “We also hope that Ma, as a former commander in chief of Taiwan, acts in a manner that aligns with national interests and does not hurt
‘DIRE’: Taiwan would not engage in ‘dollar diplomacy,’ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, after China reportedly offered Honduras up to US$3 billion to establish relations The government yesterday recalled its ambassador to Honduras after the Central American nation sent its foreign minister to China, signaling that it would sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Suspicions concerning ties with Honduras are rife after Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday last week wrote on Twitter that her country would pursue diplomatic ties with China. Honduran Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduardo Enrique Reina traveled to China on Wednesday “to promote efforts for the establishment of diplomatic relations” on instructions from Castro, Reuters yesterday quoted Honduran presidential spokesman Ivis Alvarado as saying. The government “has decided to immediately recall the ambassador to Honduras
‘NOTHING NEW’: China should not use Tsai Ing-wen’s transits through the US as a pretext to step up aggressive activity in the Taiwan Strait, a Washington official said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to stop over in the US on her way to and from Central America next week, but her administration would not confirm a meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Tsai’s delegation is to leave Taipei on Wednesday next week and stop over in New York City, Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) told a news conference yesterday. Tsai is then to head to Guatemala on Saturday next week for talks with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and to meet with Taiwanese expatriates, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. On April 3, Tsai is scheduled to travel
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