A controversial proposal to reform the DPP's independence platform was swept back quietly under the carpet yesterday by the party's Central Executive Committee, which sent it to the policy research department for further review.
"We need more discussion and research before we make any substantive moves," said Yu Shyi-kun, DPP secretary general.
The DPP said it was not dropping the issue, but merely following party procedures. According to the terms of those procedures, such an amendment can only be approved by a vote of representatives at the party's National Party Congress.
The National Party Congress is set to meet in June or July.
On Tuesday, Chen Chao-nan (陳昭南) proposed changes to the DPP's independence guidelines as outlined in the party's charter, suggesting they should be regarded as a "historical document" and that the phrase "establishing the Republic of Taiwan" should be deleted.
Chen's proposal argued that Taiwan's sovereignty has already been achieved because of democratic developments, under which Taiwanese can now freely elect their president and have established a democratic legislature.
Party Chairman Lin I-hsiung (
Over the past few years DPP leaders have attempted to show their platform policy expresses the right to independence, but that such a choice would only be exercised after a referendum.
"It's time to give our voters a new perspective of the DPP," Lin said, "especially since the independence platform has become a weakness for the DPP, forcing our candidates onto the defensive in elections."
Party faction leaders expressed different opinions on Chen's proposal, saying it was not the proper time to start a debate on the subject.
Lin Chuo-shui
While the proposal is seen as a move to help pave the way for a visit by President-elect Chen Shui-bian (
"If it's passed it will not change the DPP's stance and risks further upsetting Beijing," Lin said. "If announced it will be like restating the DPP's stance."
Shen Fu-hsiung (
"Now that the KMT is falling apart and the DPP has won the presidential election, the DPP has no reason to create internal party divisions," Shen said.
During meetings to discuss which DPP member would be chosen to run for president last February, the independence topic came up and was heatedly debated. During the debate Shen and Lin clashed several times over the issue.
During the party's National Congress in March of last year, representatives decided not to amend the platform.
Representatives were opposed to changing the party's founding principles because of the opinion of a few individuals, or for other special reasons.
Core Taiwan independence supporters took their objections to DPP chairman Lin yesterday, telling him that the independence platform was the only weapon President-elect Chen had to fight against Beijing's "one China" policy.
"If we go and change the DPP's independence platform before China has said anything about it, it is like surrendering ourselves and dropping our weapons," said Ng Chiau-tong
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
STUMPED: KMT and TPP lawmakers approved a resolution to suspend the rate hike, which the government said was unavoidable in view of rising global energy costs The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it has a mandate to raise electricity prices as planned after the legislature passed a non-binding resolution along partisan lines to freeze rates. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers proposed the resolution to suspend the price hike, which passed by a 59-50 vote. The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) voted with the KMT. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the KMT said the resolution is a mandate for the “immediate suspension of electricity price hikes” and for the Executive Yuan to review its energy policy and propose supplementary measures. A government-organized electricity price evaluation board in March
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China is mischaracterizing UN Resolution 2758 for its own interests by conflating it with its “one China” principle, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for China and Taiwan Mark Lambert said on Monday. Speaking at a seminar held by the German Marshall Fund, Lambert called for support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the international community at a time when China is increasingly misusing Resolution 2758. The resolution had a clear impact when it changed who occupied the China seat at the UN, Lambert said. “Today, however, the PRC [People’s Republic of China] increasingly mischaracterizes and misuses Resolution 2758 to serve its own interests,” Lambert said. “Beijing