President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) did not leave his airplane when it made a transit stop in Anchorage, Alaska, on the way back to Taipei yesterday. Instead he received Raymond Burghardt, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, on board the aircraft.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tang Bi-a (
Tang said the president declined and told Burghardt that the US had caused him significant stress.
The US government had refused to allow Chen to make a stopover in any major US city other than Anchorage, or to stay overnight. Many have speculated that this was to express US displeasure with Chen's plan to push for a referendum on the country's bid to join the UN under the name "Taiwan."
On his first transit stop in Anchorage en route to Honduras last Tuesday, Chen said the restrictions placed on him by the US were "inconvenient, uncomfortable and indecent."
His second transit stop in Anchorage lasted less than an hour. The president's plane was scheduled to arrive at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport last night.
Chen departed last Tuesday on a three-country visit to Central America. The highlight of the trip was the sixth leadership summit between Taiwan and its diplomatic allies in the region. The summit was held last Thursday in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
RSS