Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) told the Taipei Times last night that he had formally approved yesterday the controversial proposal, submitted to him earlier in the day by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that the words "Issued in Taiwan" be added to the cover of new Taiwan passports
The word will be placed alongside the country's formal designation "Republic of China."
Earlier in the day, officials, including the president, had sought to defuse domestic and cross-strait criticism of the move.
In addition, Vice Premier Lai In-jaw (
"Besides, it requires one-third of lawmakers to file such a request, and it's highly unlikely that that is going to happen," Lai said.
In a private dinner banquet with the Taipei Times and its sister paper, the Liberty Times, Chang said that the issue is quite different from a change to the country's official name.
"They're two separate issues," he said. "I have no idea why they mix them up."
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) took the nation by surprise when he announced on Sunday that the word "Taiwan" is to be added to the cover of Taiwanese passports. He did so on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Washington-headquartered Formosan Association for Public Affairs (台灣人公共事務會).
"It's the most precious gift for the occasion," he said.
Opposition parties then questioned why the foreign affairs ministry bypassed the Cabinet, and threatened to boycott the annual budget and bills awaiting final approval at the legislature if the government insists on the change.
According to Chang, the foreign affairs ministry presented three different proposals to him in December.
"I didn't approve any of them," he said. "I told them to present only one to me and it had to meet three criteria."
Firstly, he said, Taiwanese passports had to be made easily distinguishable from Chinese passports. Secondly, they had to retain the designation "Republic of China," and, thirdly, they had to follow international practice.
Earlier yesterday, in the face of criticism from China, officials tried to defuse the uproar over the Sunday announcement.
"We haven't changed the country's name. We've just added `Issued in Taiwan.' It's just like attaching the `Made in Taiwan' label to our products, and it's something in which we all feel pride," President Chen said.
Responding to criticism from opposition parties about the occasion and timing of his announcement on Sunday, he said, "The occasion was right. So was the timing. It also served as recognition of the efforts made over the past 20 years by the Formosan Association for Public Affairs."
China's state-run China Daily yesterday quoted an anonymous official at the Taiwan Affairs Office as saying the passport decision was a sign that Taiwan was "inching towards independence."
Also See Stories and Editorial:
Some say change reeks of independence
DPP takes issue with words `issued in'
Editorial: Passport clarification welcomed
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS