The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday blocked a proposal by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to write into the Referendum Act (公民投票法) that holding political talks with China would require referendums before and after all negotiations.
Holding a majority at the legislature’s Procedure Committee, KMT lawmakers voted not to put the proposed amendment to the Referendum Act and 66 other bills onto the legislative agenda for the plenary sessions on Friday and Tuesday next week.
That the DPP proposed revising the Referendum Act at this moment was “nothing but an election tactic,” KMT Legislator Lin Yi-shih (林益世) said. “Although the amendment is well-intended, the content was carelessly written. The legislature can’t pass a bill like this.”
The DPP proposed the amendment after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) pledged that he would not sign a peace agreement with China if it failed to pass a referendum.
Lin accused the DPP of applying double standards, saying that the DPP did not ask for the inclusion of such articles in the Referendum Act when DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) proposed a cross-strait peace agreement when she was the head of the Mainland Affairs Council, but found fault with Ma when he proposed a similar idea.
“The proposal to amend the Referendum Act is a phony issue. The DPP’s main purpose is to paralyze the legislature so that it can accuse President Ma of being incompetent,” KMT caucus whip Chao Li-yun (趙麗雲) said.
DPP caucus whip Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) said she was disappointed and upset by the boycott. She slammed the KMT veto, saying it proved that Ma’s proposed cross-strait peace accord was nothing more than a campaign gambit.
Ma earlier this month said “cautious consideration” would be given to signing a cross-strait peace pact within a decade, under several preconditions.
Tsai said she was sorry to learn that the proposal had been blocked by the KMT.
“However, if President Ma is sincere in fulfilling his commitment of allowing the 23 million Taiwanese to determine their future through referendums, he should work toward the institutionalization of referendums,” Tsai said.
With the KMT’s blocking of the proposal, Taiwanese have witnessed the inconsistency of Ma’s position on referendums, she said, adding that the DPP would continue to promote the institutionalization of referendums.
With references to the Republic of China (ROC) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the text of its proposal, the DPP tried to highlight the state-to state status of relations across the Taiwan Strait, DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said after the proposal was blocked.
The KMT move showed that its determination to safeguard the ROC’s sovereignty was questionable, he said.
The DPP still hopes the KMT will agree to a bilateral consultation on the legislation by Friday, after Tsai Ing-wen proposed on Friday last week that talks on the matter be held within a week.
In the press conference, Tsai Huang-liang said Ma’s statement on Monday that negotiations for a peace agreement with China would need “10 guarantees” and be conducted “under the framework of the ROC Constitution” and promote bilateral engagement based on the so-called “1992 consensus” were “contradictory” because the Constitution does not recognize the PRC’s sovereignty.
Ma referred to the 10 guarantees as “one framework, two prerequisites, three principles and four assurances.”
The first guarantee is maintaining no unification, no independence and no use of force under the framework of the ROC Constitution, while promoting cross-strait exchanges based on the “1992 consensus,” which allows both sides to recognize “one China,” but differ on its precise political definition.
Negotiating a cross-strait peace accord would only be possible when two prerequisites are met — a high degree of domestic consensus and mutual trust between Taipei and Beijing, he said.
It would also have to meet the true needs of the country, have strong public support and be supervised by the legislature, Ma said.
In addition, talks on a peace agreement would have to safeguard the ROC’s sovereignty, Taiwan’s safety and prosperity, ethnic harmony and cross-strait peace, as well as a sustainable environment and just society, he said.
Meanwhile, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) told reporters that any cross-strait peace agreement should involve a third country so that the agreement would be an international agreement, rather than one only between Taiwan and China.
Additional reporting by CNA
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