Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) yesterday caused jitters among an audience of Chinese politicians and academics with talk about Taiwanese independence and the politically sensitive Tiananmen Square student movement on the second day of his trip to China.
Lai, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made his remarks at a Fudan University discussion session in Shanghai.
Regarding cross-strait exchanges, Lai said that since the Taiwanese consciousness of independence preceded the establishment of the DPP, getting rid of the “Taiwan independence clause” in its party charter would not make the society’s call for independence disappear.
Photo: CNA
According to Greater Tainan Department of Information and International Relations Director and delegation member Chao Ching-hui (趙卿惠), Lai spoke in response to a Chinese professor’s comment on what the professor described as the stalled cross-strait relationship.
Fudan University professor Jiang Yihua (姜義華) reportedly blamed the DPP’s independence platform for the alleged stall, saying that despite cross-strait exchanges over the past years, this particular problem has been little recognized and should now be faced squarely.
Lai said that the DPP’s Taiwan independence clause and its Resolution on Taiwan’s Future are part of the trajectory of the development of Taiwan’s history.
“Taiwanese independence is a cause held by the DPP, which completely respects Taiwanese people’s self-determination in terms of procedure. It has enjoyed a clear consensus in Taiwan, as [former president] Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was elected as president on the party’s platform,” Lai said.
“It is important to understand whether the DPP made the cause of independence arise in society, or whether it was society’s call for independence that brought the DPP into existence. Removing the DPP’s Taiwanese independence party platform would not do away with Taiwan’s call for independence,” he said.
Lai said that no problem could be solved before China understands this historical trajectory and he called on the two sides to seek common ground, but also treasure their differences through understanding and reconciliation.
The mayor also mentioned the 1989 Tiananmen Square student movement.
“Fudan University students answered to the cause of the student movement that took place after the death of [reformist Chinese Communist Party] secretary-general Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦) in 1989. And there were more than 400 professors who signed the petition urging the government to recognize the student movement as a patriotic movement,” he said.
The issue of whether Beijing would change its no-contact policy toward the DPP has again come to the forefront amid Lai’s first visit to China on Friday.
Separately yesterday, Beijing reiterated its opposition to Taiwanese independence, but said that it welcomes exchanges with people from all quarters of Taiwan — provided they support advancing cross-strait ties.
The Chinese government maintains a “clear and consistent” policy toward the DPP and stands firmly against Taiwanese independence, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Fan Liqing (范麗青) said when asked about whether Beijing has begun to engage with the DPP.
“We welcome anyone as long as he or she favors, supports and participates in the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, no matter what he or she has advocated in the past,” she said.
Additional reporting by CNA
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique