Premier Su Tseng-chang (
"The era of party-to-party talks has already passed and only the elected government can represent the Taiwanese people," Su said at the legislature yesterday while delivering a special report on issues concerning the National Unification Council and unification guidelines.
The premier was responding to a question from Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) on recent comments by Chinese official Jia Qinglin (賈慶林).
Jia, who is chairman of China's People's Political Consultative Conference, on Sunday said that Beijing should seek to make contact with "hardliners in Taiwan's pan-green camp."
Su said Jia's remarks showed he has no understanding of Taiwan.
"Taiwan is a democratic country, and while there are many political parties, the elected government is the only one that can represent all of the people," Su said.
Su said that Jia lacked this understanding because China's government was led by the Chinese Communist Party, which was quite different from Taiwan's democratic government.
Su said he wasn't opposed to Jia's call for increasing contact with the pan-green camp.
"We welcome contact as long as Beijing respects Taiwan's sovereignty and the contact takes place on an equal footing," Su said.
Su said that contact should not be used to downgrade the nation's status or promote China's divide and conquer strategies.
Mainland Affair Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) urged Beijing to give up the conditions it has set for interactions with Taiwan.
"[Taiwan] hasn't ruled out talking with China on any issue. It is China -- having set the `one China' principle as a precondition -- that is hampering cross-strait negotiations," Wu said.
"If China is sincere about having contact with Taiwan, it should invite me or other government officials to visit China," Wu said.
Meanwhile, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"No matter what China says, what's important for Taiwanese people is to defend the integrity of the nation's sovereignty," he said.
Wang added that talks are needed on many cross-strait issues, including cross-strait direct transportation, the opening of Taiwan to Chinese tourists and the protection of Taiwanese businesspeople investing in China.
"Having talks on these issues would be helpful in advancing cross-strait peace," he said.
also see story:
Yu says that DPP is willing to talk to China
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS