The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (
Wu also slammed Lien for criticizing Taiwan's democracy during the Beijing leg of his tour.
At a press conference last night, council Chairman Joseph Wu (
"We aren't fully aware of what Lien talked about with Hu in their meeting. But it seems that the KMT might have violated the law. We have to discuss with appropriate government agencies whether the KMT-China negotiations are illegal," Wu said.
During Lien's telephone call with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) before his departure, Lien was asked not to raise issues with the Chinese that lacked consensus in Taiwan. But Lien went ahead and talked about the contentious "1992 consensus" between Taiwan and China in his meeting with Hu.
"There is a great discrepancy between what we expected Lien to say and what he actually said in Beijing," Wu said.
Lien failed to persuade Beijing to remove its missiles targeted at Taiwan and did not get China to agree to give Taiwan more room to participate in international organizations, he said.
As for People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong's (
"The political parties should view the interests of the nation as their highest concern," Wu said.
Wu blasted Lien for criticizing Taiwan's democracy in China, an undemocratic country ruled by an authoritarian regime.
"In the land of the authoritarian, undemocratic People's Republic of China, Lien attacked Taiwan's democracy and aired our domestic disputes there. His performance stunned and disappointed many people in Taiwan," Wu said.
Commenting on Lien's speech at Peking University yesterday morning, Wu said Lien wasted a great and rare opportunity to express the voice of the Taiwanese people to China.
"He did not highlight the fact that the Republic of China [ROC] is a sovereign country. Nor did he mention the freedom and democracy in Taiwan," he said.
Lien failed to say that the ROC's sovereignty belonged to its 23 million people and that only those 23 million people have the final say on matters affecting the country's future, Wu said. Lien did in Beijing what a real statesman would never do -- bringing a domestic row overseas, he said.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party Chairman Su Tseng-chang (
"Lien criticized Taiwan's democracy and praised China in Beijing. How can he face the people of Taiwan?" Su asked.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
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