Taiwan has been an independent state for 54 years and its title should be the Taiwan Republic, a pro-independence organization said yesterday.
"We are calling on the opposition parties not to embrace the thighs of [fawn over] China, and for the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] government not to espouse the `Republic of China,'" said Peter Wang (王獻極), convener of the 908 Taiwan Republic Campaign.
Wang was speaking during a press conference marking the sixth anniversary of the "special state-to-state" dictum introduced by former president Lee Teng-hui (
PHOTO: WANG YIH-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"The theory may be a small step for the former president, but it is a giant step for the Taiwan Republic and the two states refer to China and Taiwan Republic rather than China and Republic of China," Wang said. "We are dedicated to following in his footsteps and calling on the 23 million people of Taiwan to jointly accomplish the historic mission of changing the country's name to Taiwan."
Wang announced that his group would hold a flag-raising ceremony for the Taiwan Republic at 9am on Sept. 8 on Ketagelan Boulevard to celebrate the 54th anniversary of the inking of the San Francisco Peace Treaty to raise public awareness of the nation's identity.
"Taiwan became independent on Sept. 8, 1951, when 49 UN members signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty, in which the Japanese empire renounced its sovereignty over Taiwan after its defeat in World War II," Wang said. "The name of the country should be the Taiwan Republic and nothing else."
A candlelight gathering is planned for 7pm on the same day at Manka Park across from Lungshan Temple in Taipei City's Wanhua (萬華) District. Organizers hope to see a turnout of about 1,000 people at the flag-raising ceremony and 2,000 people at the evening event.
The group's short and long-term goals, Wang said, are to hold an inspection of the armed forces of the Taiwan Republic on Ketagelan Boulevard on the 55th anniversary of the peace accord next year and to see the president of the Taiwan Republic sign into law the Taiwan Republic Constitution on the day of his or her inauguration on May 20, 2008.
Among those supporting the group's goals are Presidential Office national policy adviser and lawyer Chuang Po-lin (莊柏林), DPP Legislator Wang To-far (王塗發) and campaign co-organizer Wang Li-tsu (王麗子).
Chuang said that China's "one-China" rhetoric has seriously jeopardized Taiwan's national interest and social security.
"Without extradition codes, we cannot bring back culprits committing hideous crimes here who elude the law by escaping overseas," he said. "With the `one-China' policy in place, China has been telling other countries to deal with them, not us, because they claim sovereignty over us."
Although Taiwan is already an independent, sovereign state, Wang To-far said that its biggest problem lies in the lack of a national identity.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
RSS