Military authorities yesterday denied reports that Taiwan and China had secretly launched talks on a military confidence-building mechanism (CBM) in June, while the Presidential Office broke its silence on the Chinese missile threat.
Quoting sources in the military, the Chinese-language China Times yesterday reported that negotiations on military mutual trust between the Taiwanese and Chinese militaries had begun in late June.
The report said in the initial stages of the negotiations, the Taiwanese military had requested the Chinese side remove its ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan and deactivate command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems intended for a Taiwan contingency.
Some fighter aircraft and navy vessels deployed near the Taiwan Strait were also the object of Taiwan’s request, the report said.
The report said the Ministry of National Defense had proposed that a list of weapons systems targeted for withdrawal be submitted in future military-to-military negotiations.
Denying such talks had taken place, the ministry said that because CBM talks with China involve the highest echelons of the national security apparatus, the military could not proceed on its own. The ministry follows the government’s cross-strait policies, which focus on economics before politics, it said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Shuai Hua-ming (帥化民), a military specialist, said the report was hard to believe because Taiwan does not have the power to request such a withdrawal.
“Political negotiations, including a confidence-building mechanism, could only take place after Taiwan has really felt the benefits of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement [ECFA] it signed with China,” he said.
KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said it was impossible for the government to negotiate political issues with China at the moment because Taiwanese have not yet formed a consensus on the issue.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng (耿雁生) said last week that the ministry would only discuss the removal of missiles targeting Taiwan under the “one China” principle and when the time was appropriate.
Geng said that to resolve the missile deployment issue, the two sides should first establish a CBM, adding that such talks would also have to fall under the “one China” principle.
The Democratic Progressive Party opposes any negotiations with China under a “one China” principle.
Later yesterday, the Presidential Office urged Beijing to redeploy its missiles targeting Taiwan on the basis of the so-called “1992 consensus.”
Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said China still had more than 1,000 missiles aimed at Taiwan despite the cross-strait detente.
“It is very inharmonious,” he said. “Those missiles hurt the feelings of the Taiwanese people.”
Lo said Taiwanese would not agree to China’s offer to redeploy its missiles under the “one China” principle, but if China were willing to do so on the basis of the “1992 consensus,” it would mark a significant step forward in cross-strait relations. It would also win the recognition of Taiwanese and have a positive impact on the development of cross-strait peace, he said.
Over the past two years, Lo said the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have accumulated much experience and trust through frequent exchanges. Since Taipei and Beijing signed the ECFA in June, the flow of goods and services would be freer and intellectual property rights would be better protected.
“The most important thing of all is there is peace and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait and the hard-earned peace and prosperity have received much recognition from the international community,” he said.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique