Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday expressed their disapproval of calls to freeze the Taiwanese independence clause in the party’s charter, a day before a party meeting scheduled for a discussion on the proposed freeze.
Tsai said the independence clause has been the party’s objective since its foundation, and it is also the ideal that party members and most Taiwanese have been pursuing.
With Taiwan’s democratization, the “Taiwanese consciousness” has been determinedly formed and these values of identifying with Taiwan and insisting on the nation’s independence and autonomy have already become a “natural ingredient” of the younger generation, Tsai said.
Photo: CNA
“How are we to freeze or abolish this fact or state?” she asked.
Tsai responded to the recent calls to suspend the independence clause yesterday on Google Moderator, a service that helps crowdsource questions and determine which questions interest users the most.
The DPP has been using it as an open platform to engage people on public policy.
She said the reason cited by those who propose mothballing the independence clause has always been the worry that the DPP would not be able to deftly deal with issues concerning cross-strait relations.
“This is a myth,” Tsai said. “People have to ask the question of who really defines the so-called Taiwanese independence framed by the media. Are we not an independent nation? Isn’t consolidating our sovereignty and demanding more substantive participation in the international arena what most Taiwanese are calling for?”
Tsai said the Resolution on Taiwan’s Future (台灣前途決議文) has been the consensus within the party about Taiwan’s sovereignty, future and relationship with China, and it has also become a consensus among the Taiwanese public.
“The DPP, based on this consensus, is aiming for a cross-strait relationship that is more stable and consisting of quality interaction and mutual trust,” she added.
She said that the DPP would be more confident, positive and practical in its attitude and measures, “showing its stability and consistency.”
The party would continue insisting on the principle and position that cross-strait interactions, regardless of form, should not be allowed to damage Taiwan’s democracy, sovereignty or Taiwanese will to determine their own future, Tsai said.
Separately, Su wrote on Facebook yesterday that Taiwan is an independent nation and that its future is in the hands of its 23 million people.
It is the mainstream public opinion, a social consensus of the highest degree and the DPP’s longstanding principle, Su added.
He said that the party’s 2014 China Policy Review: Summary Report (對中政策檢討機要) released in January was the result of scores of conferences with thorough discussions involving more than 600 people that spanned several months. The conclusion has confirmed the fortitude of the DPP’s basic values and core stance.
“The DPP should have confidence in its stance and in Taiwan’s mainstream opinion, clarifying its attitude [whenever needed] to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding from the outside and confusion within the party,” Su wrote.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
RSS