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
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from