Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential nominee Ma Ying-jeou's (
"If Taiwan were truly Ma's homeland as he claims, then why doesn't the word `Taiwan' appear on his father's urn? Instead, the inscription only mentions building a greater China," Chen said.
Chen said the inscription on Ma Ho-ling's (
Ma Ying-jeou's camp immediately struck back, calling Chen "malevolent and disrespectful" for using a deceased individual as a political hatchet.
"What Chen did today was completely against the principles of benevolence, honesty and forgiveness that are so deeply rooted in the Taiwanese spirit," said Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), Ma Ying-jeou's running mate.
A KMT heavyweight, Ma Ho-ling occupied several high-ranking party positions. He passed away in November 2005.
Ma Ho-ling's intimate connections with the family of former dictator Chiang Kai-shek (
Chen's comments came in response to the KMT candidate's emotional plea to voters on Saturday, during which he said he loved Taiwan and identified with it.
Ma Ying-jeou also said that although his heritage is Chinese, he is genuinely Taiwanese.
"There is an ancient saying that home is where your loved ones are buried and my beloved father is buried in Taipei City," Ma said.
Chen scoffed at Ma Ying-jeou's remarks, saying he should not woo voters by lying to them.
"If Ma truly identifies with Taiwan, then why doesn't he speak up about Taiwan being his home? How can Taiwan be his homeland if we only see a call for a stronger China and reunification [on the urn]? Is Taiwan his first homeland or his second, third, or fourth?" the president asked.
Ma Ying-jeou, who was born in Hong Kong, did not respond personally to Chen's remarks, but his spokesman Luo Chih-chiang (羅智強), admonished Chen, asking him to remember his role as the nation's chief before making any disrespectful comments in the future.
"We fully respect everyone's freedom of speech and their right to agree or disagree. But apparently Chen has forgotten the fact that when he speaks, he speaks in the capacity of the leader of this country. It is malevolent of him to completely disregard the Taiwanese tradition of showing respect to the dead," Luo said.
Luo said the phrase about unifying with China on the urn signified Ma Ho-ling's belief that Taiwan's future must be one of "gentle development."
Moreover, Luo said that Ma Ying-jeou had been very clear on his stance on the nation's sovereignty, adding that the KMT candidate believes the future of Taiwan must be decided by its 23 million inhabitants.
Ma has always been in favor of maintaining the "status quo," he said, while urging Chen not to manipulate the truth.
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
ENHANCED SECURITY: A Japanese report said that the MOU is about the sharing of information on foreign nationals entering Japan from Taiwan in the event of an emergency The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that Taiwan and Japan had signed an agreement to promote information exchanges and cooperation on border management, although it did not disclose more details on the pact. Ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said the ministry is happy to see that the two nations continue to enhance cooperation on immigration control, in particular because Taiwan and Japan “share a deep friendship and frequent people-to-people exchanges.” “Last year, more than 7.32 million visits were made between the two countries, making it even more crucial for both sides to work closer on immigration and border control,” he said. Hsiao
RSS