They said none of the gifts taken wason a curator’s list of official White House property. In a statement released Monday, Clinton’s transition office saidevery item they accepted was identified by the White House giftoffice as a present to them. Theyreferred all questions to the Park Service, which wasn’t exactlysure which gifts were being returned or where they had been kept. Transitionoffice workers said the Clintons would make no statement. Clinton’s office referred all questions about the giftreturn to the former president’s transition office. While the Clintons’ decision to return these gifts was a way toget out from under this and other criticism surrounding theirdeparture from the White House, the couple provided scant detailsabout the shipment. “As a result of questions about the status of certain propertydonated to the White House during the Clinton administration, theNational Park Service will accept the return of the property inquestion and act as a custodian of such property,” according to astatement released by the Park Service, which administers the WhiteHouse as a unit of the national park system.Ī person familiar with the Clintons’ move out of the WhiteHouse, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would say only:“They’ve been returned.” TheWashington Post this week quoted three people who said that theyassumed the furnishings they donated for the project would stay inthe White House. They were reviewing the gifts the Clintons chose to keep after$28,000 worth of items were found on a list of donations the ParkService received for the 1993 White House redecoration project. McDaniel discussed the matter Wednesday with Betty Monkman, theWhite House curator, and Gary Walters, the chief usher, orexecutive manager of the White House. Tsai has repeatedly offered talks with China but she has been rebuffed as Beijing believes she is a separatist.īoth Tsai and Lai say only Taiwan's people can decide their future.Their latest decision to send back $28,000 in gifts brings to$114,000 the value of items the Clintons have either decided to payfor or return. The KMT has yet to choose its candidate for the top job. Her ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has chosen current Vice President William Lai as its presidential candidate. President Tsai Ing-wen can not stand again due to constitutional limits after two terms in power. "Do you feel it's dangerous?" he asked, to chuckles from the audience. Gou said he wanted "peace with respect" and talks on an equal footing and he criticised international media for portraying Taiwan as a dangerous ticking time bomb. "I won't (declare) independence, you won't attack me or fly around Taiwan," he added, referring to the almost daily missions by China's air force in the vicinity of the island. But Taiwanese politicians hope because of this the people can hate China and therefore they get elected," added Gou, 72. "For them, striking Taiwan is not a priority. He launched a second bid this month for the presidential ticket of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), which traditionally favours close ties with Beijing.Ĭhina wanted to develop its economy and focus on things like finding jobs for college graduates and feeding its people, Gou said. Gou, one of Taiwan's most recognisable faces, stepped down as chief of major Apple Inc supplier Foxconn, which has extensive manufacturing facilities in China, in 2019. They think Taiwan is theirs," Gou told academics and students at Taiwan's Tunghai University. But if you engage in independence, if there is independence then there must be war. "According to my understanding they don't want war. Tension between Taipei and Beijing has surged in the run-up to January's presidential election in Taiwan, with China staging regular military exercises near the island to assert sovereignty claims that Taiwan's democratically elected government rejects. TAIPEI, April 27 (Reuters) - The billionaire founder of Taiwan's Foxconn (2317.TW) and presidential hopeful Terry Gou said on Thursday China does not want war with the island and would not attack if he become president as he would not declare independence.
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