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 US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption