President Chen Shui-bian (
"The EU's experiences in integrating the nations of Europe sheds a lot of light on how Taiwan might conduct future relations with China. The reason the EU is successful is because the principles of voluntary participation, equality and peace are upheld, and that trade-based interactions serve as the initial approach to bringing European countries closer for further integration," Chen said yesterday in a meeting with French parliamentarian Alain Madelin in the Presidential Office.
Chen mentioned in his inauguration speech on May 20 that the EU model could be the approach used to address cross-strait issues based on "peaceful development and freedom of choice," a premise that could set relations in any form between Taiwan and China, as long as the consent of Taiwan's 23 million people is gained.
Madelin yesterday however pointed out a hindrance for the application of the EU model across the Taiwan Strait, as China has never forsaken the option of using force against Taiwan.
"The process of the European integration is based on the peaceful relations among all European countries. However, in the context of cross-strait relations, China has never given up the possibility of using force against Taiwan. Under such an entirely different situation, it will be very difficult for cross-strait relations to develop like the EU," Madelin was quoted as saying in a press release by the Presidential Office yesterday.
In addition, Chen yesterday drew comparisons between Taiwan's constitutional framework and dual-executive system -- or semi-presidential system -- and the French dual-executive system, in an effort to highlight the need to revamp the Constitution.
Chen said the reason the government is planning on revamping the Constitution is to revise the current constitutional system, a mixture between the presidential system and parliamentary system which has generated many problems and hinders the functioning of government system.
Chen said "although the design of Taiwan's constitutional framework takes part of its structure from the French dual-executive system, the copy of such a design is flawed, and leaves Taiwan's system as something that is neither a presidential system, parliamentary system, nor a French-style dual-executive system.
"This is why we need to conduct constitutional reengineering to solve this fundamental problem with our Constitution."
Madelin, also a lawyer, has 25 years of experience serving as a parliamentarian, cabinet minister and a member of the European Parliament. He is the founder of the French Liberal Democratic Party, of which he is the chairman.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
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