President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen once again vowed to change the names of government agencies overseas and state-run enterprises during a campaign activity held in Taipei City yesterday.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"We don't have to fear China's opposition to Taiwan's reforms and changes," Chen said after praying for DPP candidates at Baoan Temple (
"In fact, China has never stopped threatening Taiwan while we conducted democratic reforms over the past few decades."
Chen said that, from the lifting of martial law and bans on establishing political parties and newspapers, to elections for the legislature and direct elections for president, China has never voiced its consent to Taiwan's changes.
"But we would never give up our transformation just because of China's intimidation," Chen said.
Meanwhile, Chen rebutted some people's argument that the state-run corporations will not make profits anymore if those businesses quit using "China" or "Chinese" in their titles, criticizing these comments as "nonsense."
"Did Wang Yung-ching's (
"Why can't we change our name?" Chen asked, pointing out that Taiwan had already successfully changed the bizarre names of Taiwan's resident office in Washington from "Coordination Council for North American Affairs" to "Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US."
The Association of East Asian Relations, the representative office in Japan, was also changed to the "Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office."
By citing a statement that Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
He emphasized that the case is the same as when Ma needed a majority in the Taipei City Council for a better administration.
Chen stressed that only when the pan-green camp wins the legislative elections could Ma have a chance to extend his political future, otherwise Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
"Just as Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou appealed to Taipei citizens as he sought for his mayoral reelection in 2002, which Ma said that since voters supported his re-election, they should also promise him a stable city council for the sake of better municipal construction," Chen said.
"So did I. I asked all of you to vote for the pan-green camps so that I could have the back-up of the legislature to continue implementing all kinds of reform," Chen said.
Also see stories:
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS