The dispute between Taiwan and the Philippines is unrelated to the “one China” principle and Taipei will lodge a protest if Manila cites it as the basis for its handling of the matter, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) told lawmakers yesterday.
“What happened between Taiwan and the Philippines is the business of the two countries, it has nothing to do with the ‘one China’ principle,” Wang said in response to lawmakers’ questions about Philippine President Benigno Aquino III’s recent remark that the dispute would be handled in accordance with Manila’s “one China” policy.
“The government of the Philippines should positively respond to the calls made by the Republic of China government as soon as possible,” Wang said at a meeting of the Internal Administration Committee at the legislature in Taipei.
Photo: Pichi Chuang, Reuters
Asked to comment on China’s expression of support for Taiwan because “Taiwan is part of China,” Wang thanked Beijing for its support, but said it should stay out of the dispute.
“We appreciate China’s concern over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman. However, the council has contacted China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, urging China to stay out of the dispute,” Wang said. “We have informed them that their expression of concern over the issue would only make things more complicated at this time and we hope they understand this.”
Since the death of fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成) last week, China has voiced its concern several times and it reportedly sent a naval fleet through the disputed waters in the Bashi Channel on Wednesday.
The committee adopted a resolution urging the council to deliver an official notice to China, asking it to refrain from getting involved in the dispute.
Additional reporting by staff writer
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the