Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
"I expressed my opposition to the law three years ago, and I continue to strongly oppose it today. Taiwan enjoys sovereignty, and Taiwan's future should only be decided by Taiwanese people," Ma said at a press conference yesterday, marking the third anniversary of the passage of the law.
China enacted the law on March 14, 2005, allowing the government to use "non-peaceful" means if Taiwan were to declare de jure independence.
Ma also placed advertisements in major newspapers yesterday to mark the day, saying the KMT "firmly maintains that the future of Taiwan should be decided by Taiwanese people."
The statement represented a departure from Ma's previous stance. In an interview with Sing Tao Daily, a Hong Kong-based Chinese-language newspaper, during his visit to Europe in February 2006, Ma said that the "Taiwan problem should be jointly decided by the people on both sides of the Strait."
At Taipei Youth Center in Taipei yesterday, Ma, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
The KMT politicians also vowed to implement the "three noes" policy to maintain the status quo and pledged to push for peaceful cross-strait relations.
Ma proposed the so-called "three noes" policy -- no unification, no independence and no use of force -- as his approach to improve cross-strait relations.
Ma condemned China for failing to recognize the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) deliberate tactic to heighten cross-strait tensions and understand the Taiwanese public's desire to maintain the cross-strait status quo.
Although there were no major breakthroughs in cross-strait relations, Ma said cross-strait economic and cultural exchanges had strengthened in the past three years, and the key to further breakthroughs depend on the attitude of the governments of Taiwan and China.
"I joined the presidential election to turn my determination to defend Taiwan's sovereignty into action," he said, while vowing to create friendly and peaceful cross-strait relations if elected.
DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) welcomed his KMT rival's "progress" in defending the public's right to determine the nation's future.
"Three years ago, Ma blamed Taiwan for the passage of the law as he said that the law resulted from Taiwan's provocative moves," Hsieh said.
He said that advocating the concept that "only the 23 million people in Taiwan can decide the nation's future" was why many DPP members were sent to prison in the past.
"It's a good thing that Ma is following in our steps," Hsieh said. "I am happy that we have reached a consensus on that because of the election. Only through co-existence and cooperation can Taiwan defend itself against intruders."
Also See: Presidential election 2008: 7 days to go: MAC chair slams 2005 communiques
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
WAR’S END ANNIVERSARY: ‘Taiwan does not believe in commemorating peace by holding guns,’ the president said on social media after attending a morning ceremony Countries should uphold peace, and promote freedom and democracy, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday as Taiwan marked 80 years since the end of World War II and the Second Sino-Japanese War. Lai, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and other top officials in the morning attended a ceremony at the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) to honor those who sacrificed their lives in major battles. “Taiwanese are peace-loving. Taiwan does not believe in commemorating peace by holding guns,” Lai wrote on Facebook afterward, apparently to highlight the contrast with the military parade in Beijing marking the same anniversary. “We
RSS