U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell’s recent remark on Taiwan’s status has caused quite an uproar within the nation. Some hold the suspicion that the nation’s “alert system” on the United States has ceased to work. National Security Bureau chief Hsueh Shih-ming said the NSB had not previously been able to obtain the contents of Powell’s interview with the media. He said there’s still room for improvement on their part.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell’s remarks in Beijing were unpleasant to the ears of the Taiwanese government. PFP legislator, Chin Huei-chu said he would like to know why the NSB had not obtained prior information regarding Powell’s interview with the media in China.
“Isn’t it your fault that you did not obtain information prior to Powell’s interview?” asked PFP legislator Chin Huei-chu.
“We knew about the trip to China and everything else. The only information we did not get a hold of was his interview with Phoenix TV. Yes, I admit that it was negligence of duty on my part,” said Hsueh..
Besides Powell’s remarks, the so called “espionage incident” with U.S. official Donald Keyser also was not favorable to Taiwan-U.S relations. National Security Bureau chief Hsueh Shih-ming did not want to make any further comments on the Keyser incident. But it is the first time that Hsueh has offered a more detailed report regarding the case.
“Keyser’s trip to Taiwan was done for his personal purpose. He was about to retire and he wanted to have a memorable trip. Chen happened to be in Taiwan for her brothers wedding. They knew each other back in the U.S. so it natural that he calls her when they both coincidently to be in Taiwan. I can assure you that Chen has done nothing to wrong our country,” said Hsueh.
During the whole afternoon Hsueh was stuck inside the Legislative Yuan with legislators firing questions at him. Most questions were with regards to the status of Taiwan-U.S. relations. Hsueh did not want to answer most of the questions asked, but when DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-fang appeared with a question Hsueh finally smiled for the first time.“Why is everyone so petrified about Powell’s remarks?” asked DPP legislator Tsai Chi-fang.
“No I am not petrified. I know for a fact that everything is fine,” said Hsueh.
“Guess you military people have more guts than most people,” said Tsai.
NSB chief admits negligence on Powell's interview 
