Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday invited President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to initiate cross-party talks within one week on amending the Referendum Act (公民投票法) to include articles requiring that cross-strait political negotiations be subject to referendums.
Speaking at a press conference at DPP headquarters in Taipei, the DPP presidential candidate said cross-strait talks should not happen unless both sides approached the table without political preconditions. Any political discussion that is relevant toward the definition of a country must hold to “three musts” — must have sovereignty, must be democratic and must be peaceful — and be subjected to a nationwide referendum, she said.
As party chairperson, Tsai said she was extending an invitation to Ma, who doubles as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman, to initiate bipartisan talks on amendments to the act.
Working together, both parties could amend the act to include articles regulating any cross-strait political negotiations before the current legislative session ends, Tsai said, adding that it was the only way to ensure that any political cross-strait negotiations would not go ahead without public consent.
Ma, as the head of state, should not be ambiguous about cross-strait ties, nor should he take a rash approach to such issues, Tsai said, referring to Ma’s comments on Monday about the possibility of a cross-strait peace agreement and promise on Thursday to hold a referendum.
Tsai also quoted Ma as saying during an interview with Internationale Politik in 2009 that “the prerequisites to cross-strait political negotiations are respect for Taiwan’s democratic system, the admission that the Republic of China is still extant, the giving up of pre-set political conditions and the disarmament of all missiles aimed at Taiwan.”
If Ma recalled that interview, then he should not accept Beijing’s “one China” principle and the so-called “1992 consensus” as political preconditions, Tsai said.
The “peaceful and stable interactive framework” the DPP has proposed to establish with China in the past was not the same thing as Ma’s proposed peace pact, Tsai said, because the DPP proposal was from the viewpoint of a sovereign country, but Ma’s appeared to be aimed at concluding a civil war under the “one China” principle.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
RSS