Vice President Annette Lu (
Lu also said that Taiwan should strive to sign agreements similar to the TRA with countries without official ties.
Signed in 1979, the TRA binds the US to provide Taiwan with defensive arms and to maintain Taiwan's ability to resist any military force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize its security or social and economic systems.
The vice president said a lot has changed since the issuance of the Shanghai Communique, which states that the US believes that there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of China.
When the communique was signed, Taiwan was under martial law imposed by the KMT and the government at that time did not have much public support, Lu told a group of Japanese scholars yesterday.
Some 30 years later, Taiwan is now a democratic nation. The environment recognized by the US back then has changed enormously, the vice president said.
Given the new conditions in Taiwan, the US should re-examine its position, she added.
On cross-strait relations, the vice president said Taiwan should break free of the restrictions of "one China" because "one China" no longer exists.
Lu said a policy of "one Chinese" should replace "one China" because both Taiwan and China are Chinese in terms of blood and cultural heritage.
Meanwhile, the vice president called for the creation of a Pacific Democratic Alliance, through which free countries in the region could work on strengthening cooperation.
Commenting on the disclosure of the secret National Security Bureau accounts, Lu said she worries that too much press freedom might have undermined Taiwan's security.
Taiwan would be seriously harmed if the media continue to expose the nation's secret information regarding national defense and foreign affairs to China, she warned.
Meanwhile, Lu, speaking in a TV interview yesterday, said that since US President George W. Bush didn't mention the three communiques during his recent visit to China, he has shown that the US-Taiwan relationship is entering a new era.
Taiwan should be more aggressive in improving US-Taiwan ties, Lu said.
During the Taiwan Television interview, Lu said that she is also optimistic about developing relations with the EU, some of whose members have expressed their willingness to open the door to Taiwan.
Lu said that at least four EU countries asked her about ways to improve contacts with Taiwan during her travels to Europe over the past two years.
"I believe my diplomatic visit, which displayed Taiwan's soft power, has successfully brought down the diplomatic Berlin Wall, which was built by China to encircle Taiwan internationally," Lu said.
Lu returned to Taiwan from a visit to Hungary on Sunday.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS