Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said yesterday that he would welcome Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) to visit Taiwan.
Liu’s comments came after Wen said he would like to make a trip to Taiwan.
“Taiwan is China’s treasure island,” Wen said at a press conference in Beijing yesterday following a meeting of the 11th National People’s Congress.
If allowed, he said he would visit the popular scenic spots of Alishan and Sun Moon Lake.
“Although I am 67 years old, I would like to [visit Taiwan] if possible. I would like to go even if I can’t walk and I have to crawl,” Wen said.
Asked about Wen’s comments by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Wu (吳志揚) during a question-and-answer session, Liu said: “I would be happy to see [the development], but we need to make the plan cautiously.”
“The higher the rank of the Chinese officials, the more careful we have to be,” Liu said.
Asked whether he in turn would like to visit China, Liu said that he had no plan to do so at this time. But as premier, he would be willing to visit China if Taiwan needed him and if conditions permitted.
Nevertheless, Liu said, such a matter would have to be discussed under the right circumstances.
“Currently, there is no such plan and neither is it the right environment for that,” he said.
Taiwan prohibits visits to China by high-ranking officials, public servants and police officers with access to national security information.
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of
RSS