A group of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators said yesterday that changing the nation's title of Republic of China (ROC) should not be considered for the next few decades.
The group of young DPP legislators elaborated on their concept of a "New Cultural Discourse" yesterday. The plan, aimed at ending ethnic conflicts and forming a consensus on national identity, said the current national title should be upheld and called for harmony among the nation's various ethnic groups.
"There is no suitable environment in which the ROC can change its name. We have to understand that a huge portion of Mainlanders and Hoklo identify with the ROC, and this name can also placate China," the lawmakers said in their essay, "Surpassing Conflicts, Deep-rooting Reform."
"There are still opposing voices within Taiwan, and China is also watching us closely, so there is no space for Taiwan to talk about a name change," DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (
Lee is an architect of the document.
Newly-appointed Cabinet spokesman Chen Chi-mai (
The legislators said the name ROC should not damage Taiwan's sovereign identity since the nation's sovereignty has already been confirmed and that a native consciousness has taken root.
The group said people should not fear that the ROC will be confused with the People's Republic of China because the main obstacle to Taiwan's international visibility is not name confusion, but oppression from China.
They also said that the government should continue to stress Taiwan's open and pluralistic spirit, to include and respect all ethnic groups' contributions to Taiwan.
"The discourse is about how to solve conflicts between ethnic groups and [expresses] hope that the groups can appreciate one another," Chen said.
DPP Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (
"This shows that the younger generation in the party can reflect on themselves," Shen said.
Shen said the DPP should have an internal debate on whether it should move toward the middle.
"We should discuss this before the legislative election. If we are brave enough, we can handle this within one or two weeks' time. But the party is not brave enough and it is worried that this may disturb the election campaign, so it would be better timing to talk about this after the election," Shen said.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS