Paving the way for a trip to China, it was confirmed yesterday that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General Lin Feng-cheng (
In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) reiterated yesterday that Lien could face legal action upon his return home should he sign any agreements in China.
Despite KMT denials last week that Lin would make a trip to China this week, Chinese-language media reported yesterday that Lin had quietly left Taipei Tuesday to settle the details of Lien's visit to China.
CONFIRMATION
During a phone interview with the Taipei Times, KMT spokeswoman Cheng Li-wen (
While Cheng confirmed that the purpose of Lin's trip was to arrange Lien's trip, she was unable to say what kinds of results the KMT was anticipating from the Lin trip.
While media reports speculated that Lien's journey might take place either in early next month or late this month, Cheng would only say that the KMT is "eliminating no possibilities" for the trip's date.
Besides Lin, the other members of the delegation were Chang Che-chen (
FOCUS
Since Lien recieved an invitation from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in March to make a visit, the timing and details of his trip have been a focus of attention in the nation's political scene.
While the KMT has stated that it does not need the government's blessing to visit China, the administration has urged the KMT to discuss the matter with the appropriate agencies and has looked into the legality of the ten proposals produced by KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Ping-kun's (
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) however held its ground, reiterating that if Lin signed any agreements with Beijing during his trip there it would look into whether he was in violation of the Act Governing Relations Between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (
"Taiwan's democracy was not so easily achieved. Following the rules of the game is crucial to upholding our democracy, and in democratic politics, the ruling party has a role, as does the opposition party. Our democracy would be wiped out in a day if the opposition party takes on the ruling party's role and then forces the ruling party to accept this," council head Joseph Wu (
Wu said however that if Lin's trip was just an informal exchange, the government would not put up any opposition. He warned however that cross-strait interaction should take place within legally stipulated boundaries.
Beijing's Cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office denied any knowledge of Lin's arrival in China yesterday however, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency.
also see story:
Lien `using' China to hold on to power
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US