Opposition lawmakers yesterday lashed out at vice president-elect Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) for failing to lodge a protest over a Boao Forum for Asia report that referred to Taiwan as “China’s Taiwan.”
Wu returned on Tuesday from Hainan Island, where he attended the forum last week in his capacity as the top adviser to the Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) told a press conference yesterday that a report titled Annual Report 2012: Competitiveness of Asian Economies published by the forum referred to Taiwan as “China’s Taiwan” both in its Chinese and English versions.
Chen said it was impossible that Wu would not have noticed Taiwan’s title in the report, adding that the vice president-elect had seriously denigrated the nation’s sovereignty by not voicing his -opposition at the forum.
Chen said the report also purposely listed Taiwan and Hong Kong together, implying that Taiwan’s status is the same as that of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China.
“Wu must have been aware of the political meaning behind such an arrangement, but he chose to stay silent,” Chen said.
DPP Legislator Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) might address the concept of “one country, two areas (一國兩區)” during his inauguration speech on May 20 and further denigrate Taiwan’s status.
Lin was referring to former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung’s (吳伯雄) description of cross-strait relations during his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in Beijing on March 22.
In related news, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus yesterday invited Mainland Affairs Council Minister Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) to explain the government’s cross-strait policy.
However, Lai did not show up and sent Jeff Yang (楊家駿), director of the council’s Policy Planning Department, to attend the meeting on her behalf.
Expressing regret that Lai declined to attend the meeting, TSU Legislator Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲) said the party caucus would send Lai another invitation next week.
Huang added that if Lai did not attend the next meeting, the caucus might refer her to the Control Yuan for investigation on charges of failing to explain the government’s policy to the people.
TSU caucus whip Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) reiterated that Taiwan does not belong to China or to any other country.
Yang said the “one country, two areas” concept reflects the KMT government’s longstanding position and does not constitute a change to Taiwan’s “status quo.”
Additional reporting by CNA
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