Free Republic

US officials confirm diesel submarine sale will go ahead By Nadia Tsao Staff Reporter in Washington Monday, Aug 20, 2007, Page 3 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Shuai Hua-min (帥化民) said on Saturday US officials have told a delegation of Taiwanese legislators that Washington will go ahead with the sale of diesel-powered submarines to Taiwan even if the Democrats win next year's US presidential election. The delegation was also told that four US companies that intend to participate in the bid have found European manufacturers to cooperate with, Shuai said. In a visit arranged by the Ministry of Defense, Shuai,...

Per FR policy, hosted.ap.org is link only. STORY

Taiwan has submitted its first formal application to join the United Nations, a government spokesman has said.He said an application signed by President Chen Shui-bian had been delivered to the UN Secretary General. The Chinese foreign ministry immediately dismissed the move, saying it was "doomed to failure". Taiwan has long campaigned to join the UN but all such attempts have been blocked by China which regards the island as a breakaway province. The government in Taipei held the UN seat for China until 1971 when it was replaced by Beijing. This was the first time the country launched a...

ANALYSIS-Taiwan air force loses ground to rival China 29 May 2007 07:20:59 GMT Source: Reuters By Richard Dobson TAIPEI, May 29 (Reuters) - The military balance across the Taiwan Strait is continuing to shift in China's favour, with Taiwan fast losing ground to its diplomatic rival in its last remaining area of dominance -- in the air. The Pentagon's annual report on China released last week highlighted Beijing's efforts to modernise its air force and navy, aimed largely at military contingencies against Taiwan, but also further afield. Communist China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since the end of the civil...

China's military buildup is moving beyond countering Taiwan to global operations from the Middle East through Southeast Asia, according to the Pentagon's annual assessment of Chinese military power. "China's military acquisitions and strategic thinking suggests Beijing is also generating capabilities for other regional contingencies, such as conflict over resources or territory," the report to Congress said. The statement, released yesterday, contradicts assessments of some pro-China analysts and intelligence officials who have said the nation's military buildup is relatively benign and limited to resolving the sovereignty issue of Taiwan, which was separated from China in 1949 during a civil war. China...

The motorway was closed to traffic for four hours during the drill They came before dawn - gathering with anticipation in groups along the narrow country roads, in the rice paddy fields and on the rooftops of farms and warehouses.Some had brought their young children with them, a few had binoculars, many more had cameras and they were all eagerly looking towards a stretch of one of Taiwan's main freeways, connecting the north to the south of the island. Soon, the large crowd numbering more than 1,000 would hear the ferocious roar of jets and witness six combat fighters...

President Hu (l) met honorary KMT head Lien Chan (r) at the forum Chinese President Hu Jintao has called for closer economic and cultural exchanges between China and Taiwan. Mr Hu was speaking at a China-Taiwan forum in Beijing, aimed at improving ties between the two rival neighbours. More than 30 MPs from Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), are taking part in the two-day event. It comes just days after Taiwan, seen by China as part of its territory, rejected Beijing's plan for the Olympic torch to pass through the island. President Hu told some 500 participants...

Taiwan says it would win war with China By Annie Huang, Associated Press Writer | April 24, 2007 TAIPEI, Taiwan --A computer simulation projected that China could land forces on rival Taiwan, but they would be repulsed after two weeks of fierce fighting and harsh losses to both sides, Taiwan's military said Tuesday. The complex simulation involved a scenario of China invading the island, 100 miles off its coast, in 2012. Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing considers Taiwan Chinese territory. The computer scenario was based on China's repeated threats to attack if Taiwan ever...

VIENNA, Austria, APRIL 7, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a reflection on Easter written by Russian Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeev of Vienna and Austria. He is the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church of Moscow to the European Community. He has shared this meditation with ZENIT to mark that the date of Easter is shared this year by both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. * * * The Resurrection of Christ went by just as unnoticed as his birth, for nobody saw Christ leaving the tomb. And from the very first days after the resurrection, doubt took hold of many people,...

Kuomintang heavyweights and supporters yesterday marked the 32nd death anniversary of President Chiang Kai-shek at venues that could no longer be dedicated to their late leader by next year. KMT Honorary Chairman Lien Chan led incumbent and former party officials, including former party chief Ma Ying-jeou, to pay tribute at Chiang's mausoleum in Taoyuan. While the ceremony in Taoyuan was more like an annual routine, another KMT group performed in Taipei an elaborate ritual in defense of Chiang's name against what they considered a government campaign to deny his contribution to the nation. The group, including former Premier Hau Pei-tsun,...

As many as 62 percent of university students in Taiwan think former Chairman Ma Ying-jeou of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) will win the 2008 presidential race and 67.5 percent of them oppose dismantling the walls surrounding the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park in Taipei. These are among the major findings of the latest poll of students attending higher learning institutions on the island conducted by the World Leadership Education Foundation in Taiwan and the Leadership Education Society at the National Taiwan University. Ma currently enjoys a sizable lead over all other presidential hopefuls as shown in most other major public opinion...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pope Benedict XVI met Tuesday for the highest-level Kremlin-Vatican talks in more than three years, focusing on easing tension between Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians and finding common ground in denouncing intolerance and extremism.A Vatican statement issued after the meeting — which included 25 minutes of private talks — made no mention of an invitation by Putin for the pope to visit Russia. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said a visit had not come up.Still, the talks appeared to have met Vatican expectations, with the statement saying they were held in a "very positive...

Washington called President Chen Shui-bian's pledge to push for independence "unhelpful" Monday and reiterated its stance against independence for the island Beijing regards as a renegade province. "As it is well-established, the U.S. does not support independence for Taiwan," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "President (George W.) Bush has repeatedly underscored his opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo by either Taipei or Beijing because this threatens regional peace and stability, U.S. national interests and Taiwan's own welfare," McCormack said. He reminded that Chen had pledged in his 2000 and 2004 inaugurations to not declare independence, change the...

Mr Chen set out a "four wants" policy for Taiwanese independence China has hit out at Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian after he made a strongly pro-independence speech on Sunday.Mr Chen said Taiwan should pursue independence, write a new constitution and change its official name from "Republic of China" to Taiwan. China's Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said anyone wanting to split Taiwan from the mainland was a "criminal". The row came as China opened its annual session of parliament and announced a hike in defence spending. Mr Chen, in a speech to a pro-independence group on Sunday, said: "Taiwan should...

WASHINGTON, March 2 (AFP) Mar 02, 2007 The United States rejected a Chinese protest Friday over plans to sell hundreds of US missiles to rival Taiwan. "The United States assists Taiwan in meeting its legitimate self-defense needs," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, arguing that the missile sale fell within US legislation governing US-Taiwan relations. "The Bush administration remains fully committed to fulfilling the security and arms sales provisions of the Taiwan Relations Act," he said. Under the act, passed when Washington switched its political recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, the United States is committed to providing Taiwan...

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 1, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address Benedict XVI delivered today to the members of the Catholic-Orthodox Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue. * * * Dear Brothers in Christ, It is with great joy that I welcome you, the members of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, on the occasion of your fourth plenary meeting. Through you, I gladly extend fraternal greetings to my Venerable Brothers, the Heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches: His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, His Holiness Patriarch Zakka I Iwas, His Holiness...

The Early Church Fathers taught that those outside of the Church had no hope of salvation. However, they made allowance for those who didn’t know any better or had no means to comply. Ignatius of AntiochBe not deceived, my brethren: If anyone follows a maker of schism [i.e., is a schismatic], he does not inherit the kingdom of God; if anyone walks in strange doctrine [i.e., is a heretic], he has no part in the Passion [of Christ]. Take care, then, to use one Eucharist, so that whatever you do, you do according to God: For there is one flesh...

The Early Fathers believed that authentic teaching and authority came through apostolic succession.Clement of RomeOur Apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife for the office of bishop. For this reason, therefore, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed those who have already been mentioned, and afterwards added the further provision that, if they should die, other approved men should succeed to their ministry (Letter to the Corinthians 44:1 [A.D. 95]). Ignatius of AntiochYou must all follow the bishop as Jesus Christ follows the Father, and the presbytery as you would the Apostles. Reverence the deacons as...

The Early Church Fathers recognized Oral Tradition (as taught by the Church) as being equally authoritative as written Tradition (Scripture) because they both came from the same God through the same Church. Papias Whenever anyone came my way, who had been a follower of my seniors, I would ask for the accounts of our seniors: What did Andrew or Peter say? Or Phillip or Thomas or James or John or Matthew, or any of the Lord’s disciples? I also asked: What did Aristion and John the Presbyter, disciples of the Lord say. For, as I see it, it is not...

VATICAN CITY — In what theologians are describing as a highly significant gesture, Pope Benedict XVI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople are considering a proposal to attend the next round of joint Catholic-Orthodox theological discussions in 2007. According to sources at the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the two leaders are examining the possibility of personally opening the next session of the Catholic-Orthodox Joint International Theological Commission, expected to be held in Ravenna, Italy. The panel of 60 experts has become the focus for improved Catholic-Orthodox relations after a successful meeting in Belgrade in September — the first time members...