Comments to Chinese leaders by the nation’s APEC envoy, as well as interference by Beijing in the January elections, raise serious concerns about the China policy of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration and the democratic nature of the elections, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.
It is lamentable that former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), Ma’s envoy to the APEC summit, failed to mention the president’s “10 guarantees” when he discussed the idea of signing a cross-strait peace agreement during a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in Sinjhuang (新莊), New Taipei City (新北市), yesterday morning.
Lien put forward the issue of signing a cross-strait peace agreement during his 55-minute meeting with Hu in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Saturday, prior to the main APEC leaders’ summit, saying he hoped both sides “could start to exchange views on the peace issue.”
Photo: Reuters
Ma’s erratic stance on the peace initiative has raised concerns about his administration’s stability, -credibility and its policymaking process, Tsai, the DPP’s presidential candidate, said one day after the party criticized Lien and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for “starting to negotiate with the Chinese Communist Party on the peace accord behind closed doors.”
Elaborating on comments she made on Saturday, when she said China has acted as a “helping hand” for the KMT in the presidential election, Tsai said that “anyone who has been watching this election closely would reach the conclusion” that China has been assisting the KMT “in a lot of ways.”
Tsai called on Beijing to stay neutral and to stop interfering in Taiwan’s elections.
DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) listed five ways in which China has interfered with the election in a press release.
One was by sending -provincial-level purchasing delegations to boost Ma’s economic performance, Chen said.
Another was the use of incentives, he said, including the offer of cheap airline tickets so Taiwanese businesspeople could return to Taiwan for the elections, Chen said.
“Such tactics are aimed at only one thing, helping the KMT win the presidential and legislative elections,” Chen said.
Discussing the possible peace agreement yesterday, Presidential Office spokesperson Fan Chiang Tai-chi (范姜泰基) said Ma had already said that current conditions were not right for discussions on a cross-strait peace pact, adding that there was little chance that any peace agreement would be promoted in the next four years.
“If the conditions are right, we will put the matter to a referendum,” he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS