US Special Representative to Iran Brian Hook on Wednesday reiterated that the US’ policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged, despite US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling it a country on Monday.
“Our policy has not changed. The United States remains committed to the US ‘one China’ policy, the three joint communiques and our responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act [TRA],” Hook told a regular news briefing in Washington when asked whether it was a slip of the tongue by Pompeo or if it marked a policy change.
On Friday last week, Pompeo announced that the US would reimpose sanctions against Iran, but added that eight “jurisdictions” would get exemptions to continue importing crude oil from there.
Photo: AP
Pompeo referred to Taiwan as a country when announcing on Monday that Taiwan, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Greece, Italy and Turkey would be granted waivers, as long as they work to reduce oil imports from Iran to zero.
“And then the secretary, when he made his announcement on Monday, included Taiwan as among the eight countries,” a reporter said.
“He [Pompeo] specifically said [it]. Does this mean that — that at least the two of you, Brian Hook and Secretary Pompeo ... regard Taiwan as a country? Or is this just kind of a slip of the tongue?” the reporter asked.
Hook reiterated that the US remains committed to its “one China” policy, the three joint communiques, and its responsibilities under the TRA, but the reporter continued, asking: “So why call it a country and court the ire of the Chinese?”
The waiver the US has granted to Taiwan “is relevant to Taiwan’s economy, and anything else you may have heard, whatever you’ve interpreted, nothing has changed in our policy,” Hook said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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