Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) said yesterday that the government still hoped the Olympic torch could come to Taiwan, as long as the nation's sovereignty is not compromised.
Chang was responding to media speculation that should the torch standoff continue until the deadline reportedly set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), 7am today, it would mean the breakdown of talks and an end to any hope of the torch coming to Taiwan.
Cabinet spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) said that faced with China's lack of respect for democracy, the government had "made all possible preparations" for a breakdown in the talks.
Sports Affairs Council Vice Chairman and spokesman Lee Kao-hsiang (
He said that after Jiang Xiaoyu (蔣效愚), executive vice president of the Beijing Olympic organizing committee, said on Sept. 6 that Taipei would be included as an overseas city on the torch relay route, Taipei had accepted the arrangement.
But China then at the last minute added other conditions, including that no national flags or emblems of the Republic of China (ROC) should appear, nor should the ROC national anthem be heard while the torch is in Taiwan.
Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee Chairman Tsai Chen-wei (蔡辰威), who has been negotiating on the matter over the past six months, expressed hope that the situation could still be resolved.
He said the IOC hoped the torch could go through Taiwan and had indeed set today as the deadline for the talks but admitted that unless both sides could come to an agreement on the outstanding issues, he saw little hope that the talks can go on.
Beijing announced in April its planned route for the torch relay. According to Beijing's plan, the torch was to enter Taiwan from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam before heading on to Hong Kong.
Taipei rejected the planned route at the time on the grounds that it downgraded Taiwan's status as a sovereign state.
Taiwan initially requested that the torch arrive and exit via a country other than China but accepted Beijing's route plan after China agreed to designate the Taiwan leg of the relay as part of the overseas route and to address Taiwan as Chinese Taipei rather than Taiwan, China, in Olympics-related documents.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
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