The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) said yesterday that it did not rule out mobilizing its supporters to “shadow” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) during his visit next week, adding that it would demand an apology from the official for what it said was an insulting comment from Beijing.
Zhang’s four-day visit from June 25 to June 28, during which he is to visit New Taipei City, Greater Taichung and Greater Tainan, comes on the heels of TAO spokesperson Fan Liqing’s (范麗青) remarks last week that “Taiwan’s future should be decided by all Chinese people, including Taiwanese.”
The comment has drawn the ire of Taiwanese over the past few days, with politicians across party lines describing the comment as highly inappropriate and reflective of Beijing’s “lack of respect” for the right to Taiwanese self-determination.
“President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) have been silent on the controversial and inappropriate remarks, and Ma has tried to avoid media inquiries. This is ridiculous,” TSU Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) said on the sidelines of a campaign event in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋).
The Presidential Office initially declined to comment on Fan’s remarks, but later issued a statement following strong public pressure.
The statement said that the nation’s future should “be decided by its 23 million people, according to the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution,” which subsequently was also criticized by the opposition for “being weak and not challenging Beijing” and “wrongfully citing the ROC Constitution to back up Beijing’s view” as the Constitution still lists “mainland China” as part of the ROC’s territory.
Citing Ma’s interview with the Hong Kong-based Singtao Daily in February 2006, Lin said Ma emphasized that Taiwan’s future should be decided by people across the Taiwan Strait, which “was exactly the same as what Fan said last week.”
Ma changed his rhetoric in 2007 during his campaign for the 2008 presidential election, saying in a campaign advertisement that Taiwan’s future should be decided by the 23 million people of Taiwan.
Lin, who is running for New Taipei City mayor in the November election, demanded that New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) lodge a protest against Zhang and ask for an apology in their scheduled meeting.
“As Zhang is now right at our front door, I wonder how Chu will respond to China’s arrogant remarks,” Lin added.
Meanwhile, in related news, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) urged the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) not to over-interpret Zhang’s visit.
Wang was responding to DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-chang’s (蔡其昌) comment that it was “unwise” for Zhang to choose to visit Taiwan during the legislature’s extra session, when legislation on the oversight of cross-strait agreements or the trade-in-services pact might be discussed.
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