Washington has received a request from president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (
The official from the department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs said the US government will consider Ma's request and make a decision in accordance with the country's long-standing policy toward Taiwan and its "one China" policy as conceptualized in the three US-China joint communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act.
Ma raised the possibility on Monday of visiting the US prior to being sworn in during a meeting with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Stephen Young.
A senior State Department official told the media on Monday that the US government has not changed its principles in dealing with requests by Taiwan leaders to visit the US.
These principles include that the visit should be private and unofficial and that such a visit would be arranged for the convenience, comfort, safety and dignity of the travelers, the official said.
If Ma's US visit is permitted, it will set a precedent that is almost certain to draw opposition from Beijing.
Bonnie Glaser, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies based in Washington, told the Central News Agency that the lack of a precedent and the possible protest from Bei-jing are not necessarily valid reasons for the US to turn down Ma's request.
In considering whether to accept the request, however, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration and the administration of US President George W. Bush should first discuss whether a visit is necessary, Glaser said.
"What can be achieved through a visit to Washington that cannot be achieved through other means? The up sides and the down sides should be clearly understood and weighed," Glaser said, noting there are many ways of engaging in dialogue.
If the US decided to approve the visit, "steps should be taken by both the US and Taiwan to reassure Beijing so as to avoid a negative impact on future cross-strait relations," she said.
Meanwhile, June Teufel Dreyer, a professor of political science at the University of Miami, expressed strong support for "the idea of a pre-inauguration visit to Washington by president-elect Ma, regardless of Beijing's feelings on the matter."
Dreyer said that the Taiwan Relations Act gives Washington significant responsibilities for protecting Taiwan against hostile actions by China and therefore "it is very important for Taiwan officials to be able to confer with leading US decision-makers in departments or offices that are relevant to Taiwan's defense and foreign policies."
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS