President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) proposal for a possible peace accord with China within a 10-year time frame could put Taiwan’s sovereignty and democratic values at risk and leave future generations with no freedom of choice, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Speaking as the head of her party, Tsai, the DPP’s presidential candidate in January’s election, told a press conference that Ma’s proposal was “irresponsible and impetuous” and that it amounted to the manipulation of a highly sensitive political issue to cover up his administration’s failures, as well as a bargaining chip that benefits his presidential campaign.
“It’s a pity that President Ma, as a national leader, has put the nation’s future at risk with this reckless initiative and pushed the future of Taiwanese into a political danger zone,” Tsai said.
Photo: CNA
Ma proposed on Tuesday that Taiwan could negotiate a peace accord with China within 10 years on the preconditions of strong domestic support, the needs of the country and legislative supervision.
A DPP Central Standing Committee resolution yesterday said the proposal exposed Taiwanese to four serious risks — the sacrifice of Taiwan’s sovereignty, a change in the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait, the jeopardizing of Taiwan’s democratic values and damage to the nation’s strategic depth in bilateral negotiations — Tsai said.
The initiative could make the cross-strait situation a “domestic” issue by agreeing to the “one China” principle, she said, as well as going to the negotiating table without a public mandate and a national consensus.
Tsai cited the 1951 peace deal between Tibet and China as an example of Beijing’s lack of credibility as a signatory.
“China is not a democratic country to this day. We cannot afford to overlook the potential risks and instability [when signing a peace accord with China],” she said.
Tsai said that while her party was not opposed to “political talks, without political preconditions,” any political negotiation should safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty, democracy and peace.
Meanwhile, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year sentence for corruption, wrote in an article published yesterday that Taiwanese should never accept “one China,” adding that even former US president Bill Clinton had doubts about a potential cross-strait peace agreement.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) made it clear in a Dec. 31, 2008, speech that all cross-strait negotiations — including those for a confidence-building mechanism, the small three links, trade agreements, Taiwan’s international participation, as well as cessation of hostilities — should be under a “one China” framework, Chen said.
Ma had discussed the issue of a peace accord with him in 2007 and on April 1, 2008, when he was president-elect, Chen wrote.
Chen said he opposed any talks with preconditions and that he had had a heated debate with Ma on the so-called “1992 consensus” and “one China, with different interpretations.”
Ma said at the time that he would not hold talks with China if Beijing did not accept “one China, with different interpretations” and that he would not negotiate a peace agreement if China did not dismantle the missiles it has aimed at Taiwan, Chen wrote.
Current estimates put the number of short and medium-range, and cruise missiles the People’s Liberation Army targets at Taiwan at about 1,500.
Chen said he had rejected a recommendation by Ken Lieberthal, who served in the US National Security Council during the Clinton administration, for a mid-term peace treaty, which the US official argued would maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait for another 30 to 50 years.
The reason he rejected the proposal, he said, was that he would not accept the “one China” framework.
Clinton ridiculed Lieberthal’s proposal during his visit to Taiwan in February 2007, saying nobody could guarantee peace and that “time is on Taiwan’s side,” Chen wrote.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
RSS