The Presidential Office’s rejection of a proposal to amend the Referendum Act (公民投票法) to take into account political talks with China is indicative of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) vacillating attitude toward the issue, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.
The DPP made the remarks after the Presidential Office rejected DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) proposal that would make it necessary to get a mandate through a referendum before the Executive Yuan could push for political talks with China.
Tsai had hoped her proposal, which she put forward on Friday, could be included before the end of the current legislative session. The proposal also stated that the conclusion of any talks should be decided through a referendum as well.
Photo: CNA
In response, Presidential Office spokesperson Fan Chiang Tai-chi (范姜泰基) that night rejected Tsai’s request for a meeting on the issue, saying that “it is unnecessary.”
Fan Chiang said the Referendum Act in its current form is sufficient for the issue in question and would encounter no difficulties, adding that the government would not propose any amendments to the act.
Fan Chiang said there was also no need to arrange for a meeting between Ma and Tsai, saying there would be televised platform presentations for the presidential candidates next month in which Ma, who is seeking re-election, and Tsai, who is the DPP’s presidential candidate, would be able to fully express their ideas and policies.
On the issue of whether the Referendum Act has other clauses that need to be amended, Fan Chiang said the Presidential Office would respect the opinions of the public. Unless the public reached a full consensus, there would be no rash proposal for amendments to laws, he added.
DPP spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) yesterday said that while Article 16 of the Referendum Act stipulates that the Legislative Yuan can propose a referendum and Article 17 of the act says that the president can also propose a referendum on defense matters, it does not contain an article that stipulates that when the nation’s sovereignty status is facing change, voters can decide to proceed with the change through a referendum.
Therefore, it is the DPP’s view that the government’s administrative departments are obliged to subject negotiations to a public referendum, Liang said.
“The people of Taiwan have the right to decide their own future, and if President Ma truly thinks that any cross-strait peace accords need to be subjected to a referendum, then he should support the inclusion of the clause into the Referendum Act,” Liang said, adding that such a clause should clearly limit the responsibility and obligation of the president and the government’s administrative authorities.
DPP spokesperson Chuang Ruey-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said that according to a cable released by WikiLeaks, former Control Yuan president Fredrick Chien (錢復) told the US in 2009 after attending the Boao Forum in China that China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Wang Yi (王毅) told him: “We’ve done a lot for Ma [Ying-jeou], so it’s time for Ma to do some things for us. The upper echelons of Beijing wishes that Ma would convey in a more precise manner that Taiwan and China is ‘one China.’”
Looking at the language in the cable, it was not difficult to understand why Ma is bringing up such an issue at this juncture, Chuang said.
Pointing to Premier Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) remarks on Friday that any cross-strait peace agreement would be signed in accordance with the Guidelines for National Unification (GNU) between Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, and the territory “outside the free area” — China — Liang said Wu’s statement revealed what Ma truly has in mind.
“Although Ma said the signing of a cross-strait peace agreement has nothing to do with unification, in accordance with the GNU’s description, a peace agreement is what the GNU designates as the ‘long-term unification by negotiation’ phase,” Liang said.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
RSS