People should pay heed to China’s disregard of Taiwan’s sovereignty and government over a wide range of issues, former Democratic Progressive Party chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Tsai’s comments were directed at a unilateral announcement on Thursday by organizers of the Chinese Music Chart Awards (中國歌曲排行榜) that this year’s event would be held in Taipei, despite not having received official approval from the Taiwanese government.
“Beijing has not only failed to show respect, but also intentionally disregarded Taiwan’s sovereignty and government. It seems to me that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has failed to resist China’s forceful drive to suppress Taiwan since he took office,” Tsai said on the sidelines of an event in Banciao District (板橋), New Taipei City (新北市).
“Taiwan’s sovereignty and authority will be eroded if the government does not act as the ultimate defender of the nation and meet people’s expectations. If that’s the case, society should stay vigilant and safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty and political system by itself,” she said.
Any Chinese event that belittles Taiwan’s sovereignty should not be held in Taiwan, Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Lin Shih-chia (林世嘉) said.
Lin urged the joint-review committee, which consists of 26 government agencies, to reject the application for the event during tomorrow’s scheduled review meeting and said she would propose that any agency that approves the application has its budget slashed.
The National Immigration Agency on Saturday confirmed that it had received application documents from the Chinese Music Chart Awards organizers and that 26 agencies, led by the Ministry of Culture, are scheduled to jointly review the matter tomorrow.
While the event has yet to be approved by Taiwanese authorities, a Chinese tour agency has been advertising tour packages, including attendance of the awards ceremony in Taipei, since early last month.
Caissa Travel Agency’s Web site is offering three tour packages — five, six and eight-day trips — for the event. The tour parties are scheduled to leave Beijing on Dec. 23 and Dec. 27 respectively, with the tours costing from 4,299 yuan (US$690) to 7,399 yuan.
Additional reporting by Chen Hui-ping
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
RSS