Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday of belittling himself and eroding national dignity by agreeing to be addressed as “Mr Ma” when he meets Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) later this year.
The DPP lawmakers, led by caucus whip William Lai (賴清德), told a press conference that they could not accept Ma’s view of the title he should use in talks with Chen.
Ma told reporters at the Presidential Office on Tuesday that having the head of ARATS address him as “Mr Ma” while he calls him “Mr Chen” would be “the best way to avoid the question of inequality and put aside disputes.”
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
The position of president is the symbol of the nation, Lai said, accusing Ma of humbling himself and damaging Taiwan’s national dignity. He urged Ma not to belittle himself in his own country.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進) defended Ma yesterday.
The public should not focus too much on the titles Chen and Ma use, Lee said.
“I think the title ‘Mr’ is a very neutral term,” Lee said, adding that concrete development in cross-strait affairs and reciprocity were more important than titles.
Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) also backed Ma.
“[Ma’s] proposal has made the Ma-Chen meeting possible, which is good,” Chiang said when questioned by DPP Legislator Su Cheng-ching (蘇震清) at the legislature’s Home and Nations Committee yesterday. “We’ve called him Mr Ma on some occasions.”
When Chiang met Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) last Friday after inking agreements with his ARATS counterpart, Chiang called Hu “Chairman Hu” in recognition of his role as chairman of the Chinese Communist Party.
“Why didn’t you call Hu Jintao ‘Mr Hu’? Hu called Chiang “Chairman Chiang” and [you] think it is fine that Ma calls Chen ‘Mr Chen’?” Su said.
Chiang said he had been told by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) before he left for China to call Hu “Chairman Hu.”
Asked by DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) how he would introduce Ma to Chen in Taiwan, Chiang said he would follow Ma’s suggestion and call him “Mr Ma.”
“Everyone is clear that Mr Ma is the president of the Republic of China,” Chiang said, adding that when Chen visits, “[I] believe he would know [Ma] is the president of the Republic of China.”
Additional reporting by Flora Wang and staff writer
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
RSS