US President George W. Bush's re-election will be beneficial to the consolidation of Taipei-Washington relations and US support for Taiwan, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials said yesterday.
Lee Chun-yi (
The arms sales package to Taiwan, approved by Bush in his first term, will remain the most important policy of the US toward Taiwan, Lee said.
Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), another DPP caucus leader, said Bush has been the friendliest US president to Taiwan, which he said was shown in the privileged treatment granted by the Bush administration to President Chen Shui-bian (
According to Tsai, it is an overall diplomatic strategy of the Bush administration to contain China, and Taiwan must continue to play a balancing role in the Asia-Pacific region in the future to secure Washington's support for Taiwan.
Sharing a similar view, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Chen Chien-ming (
The pan-blue alliance, however, said Bush's re-election will mean heavier pressure on Chen's government, saying Bush has "drawn a red line" for cross-strait relations.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Huang Teh-fu(
People First Party (PFP) Legislator Chou Hsi-wei (
Chou urged Chen to take concrete steps to try to improve relations with both the US and China instead of paying lip service.
TSU Chairman Huang Chu-wen (
Saying the results of the election have been decided upon by the people, Huang asked the alliance to stop wasting social resources on meaningless legal processes.
KMT spokesman Chang Jung-kung (
Without the interference of an election-eve shooting of Chen and other irregularities, the results of the US election are definitely not as disputable as that of Taiwan's, Chang said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
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