Former US president Bill Clinton, who arrived last night on a less-than-24 hour visit to Taipei, lauded President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) cross-strait policy over dinner before making a speech on Taiwan’s economic future at the Taiwan International Convention Center.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who attended the event, arrived about 10 minutes late, and Clinton’s speech began about 15 minutes later than scheduled.
Prior to the event, Clinton, who landed at Taipei’s Songshan Military Airport on a private jet, attended a welcoming banquet hosted by Ma and Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長).
Photo: EPA
Afterward, Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) provided reporters with an overview of the discussion between Clinton and Ma during the vegetarian dinner. Clinton allegedly commended Ma’s cross-strait policies, in particular the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, Yang said.
Ma and Clinton touched on the development of the political scene in East Asia and also discussed Taiwan’s democratic development, he said.
Clinton told Ma he once told former Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) not to worry about Taiwanese democracy, Yang quoted him as saying.
“He [Clinton] said there are two kinds of pain. One is [a] toothache. If we leave it alone, it may get worse. The other kind is a child’s skin scrape. If we leave them alone, the wounds will heal by themselves,” Yang said.
“The issue of Taiwan is like the scrape. If we leave the scrapes alone, they will recover. The Taiwan issue will be resolved as time goes by,” he quoted Clinton as saying.
A participant of last night’s speech who spoke on condition of anonymity said the conference hall was about three-fourths full, but two-thirds of the 300 VIP seats were empty.
Data from the organizers showed that the prices of the tickets ranged between NT$1,800 and NT$12,000.
Clinton is scheduled to leave Taiwan in this afternoon.
This was Clinton’s sixth visit to Taiwan, his most recent being in 2005.
At press time, Clinton’s speech was ongoing.
See Clinton on page 2
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
CAUTION URGED: Xiaohongshu and Douyin — the Chinese version of TikTok — are tools the Chinese government uses for its ‘united front’ propaganda, the MAC said Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) yesterday urged people who use Chinese social media platforms to be cautious of being influenced by Beijing’s “united front” propaganda and undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty. Chiu made the remarks in response to queries about Chinese academic Zhang Weiwei (張維為) saying that as young Taiwanese are fond of interacting on Chinese app Xiaohongshu (小紅書, known as RedNote in English), “after unification with China, it would be easier to govern Taiwan than Hong Kong.” Zhang is professor of international relations at Shanghai’s Fudan University and director of its China Institute. When giving a speech at China’s Wuhan
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
RSS