Although several pan-blue legislators claimed that President Chen Shui-bian's (
Wang yesterday said that everyone should wish Chen a good trip and support him while he is representing the nation in other countries.
"I support Chen when he says that the more frustration he encounters, the braver he will become,'" Wang said. "I hope Taiwanese give more encouragement to the president."
Echoing Wang's remarks, Hualien County Commissioner Hsieh Shen-shan (
Both pan-blue and pan-green camps should accept and support Chen's decision because it was made in order to uphold Taiwan's dignity, he said.
He added that as he had been the secretary-general of the Executive Yuan before, he understood that diplomatic breakthroughs were extremely difficult.
"Therefore, I feel Chen has been wronged," he said yesterday during a media and public relations forum held in Hualien.
Lawmakers engaged in debate yesterday over Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang's (
According to yesterday's Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper), Huang, who is accompanying Chen on the trip, told reporters that "It is regretful to learn that the US couldn't help Taiwan keep [the information] confidential."
Huang said he had told Taiwan's official representative to Washington David Lee (李大維) at around 1:10am Thursday morning Washington time to ask the US not to disclose the information that Chen wouldn't make a stopover in the US.
But the government's last-minute decision that Chen would not make a transit stop in Anchorage, Alaska, en route to Paraguay was revealed by the US Department of State, a move that took the Taiwanese government by surprise. China forced Lebanon not to grant landing clearance to Chen's plane after learning about the plan from Taiwan's local media, Huang said.
Some pan-blue camp legislators said that the US is under no obligation to help Chen keep information confidential, and criticized Chen for further straining the nation's relations with the US.
"Chen's behavior put the nation's relations with the US at risk in order to express his personal displeasure," People First Party (PFP) caucus whip Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) said.
But Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tang Bi-a (
"The villainous style of the US violated international etiquette [and the US] colluded with China to squeeze Taiwan's international space," Tang said.
DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (
While Hsiao blamed local media for leaking Chen's possible transit in Lebanon, she said the government should patch up relations with the US after Chen's return.
Additional reporting by Yu Tai-lang
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as