President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) criticized the social movements the nation has seen in recent years during yesterday’s Double Ten National Day speech, labeling them obstructionist groups that hindered the economy and engaged in “undemocratic” behavior.
To mark the 103rd anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China (ROC), Ma delivered a speech titled “Proud of Our Democracy, Proud of Taiwan” at a Taipei ceremony, which was attended by more than 400 foreign dignitaries, including Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore and Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes.
Much of the speech was devoted to how the adoption of a constitutional democracy has built today’s Taiwan, a feat Ma said would “serve as a guidepost for ethnic Chinese societies,” despite the challenges the nation has faced in its democratic development in recent years.
Photo: Reuters
“In the last year or two, protesters have resorted to some extremely zealous and illegal actions that ignored the lawful interests of people with different opinions,” Ma said. “In some cases, they went so far as to occupy government buildings.”
The latter part of Ma’s comments were an apparent reference to the student-led Sunflower movement, which occupied the main chamber of the legislature in March and April to protest the government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade agreement.
“Such undemocratic behavior has generated needless conflict, and allowed a minority to prevent legislative deliberations on many pending bills,” Ma said.
Photo: Reuters
While countries are pressing to establish economic and trade alliances, and take part in regional economic integration, Taiwan has remained at a standstill on this front, Ma added.
Ma said that a number of policies must be pursued to increase the nation’s economic integration with other countries, including proposals to restructure industries and make more value-added products, carry out deregulation and open up markets, “[and these] cannot be debated rationally” with such protests.
“What we have encountered ... is pure obstructionism that has made progress impossible,” Ma said. “If those who oppose our policies refuse to engage in discussion and are unable to propose any alternative, then they are not acting in the spirit of democracy, and Taiwan can only watch helplessly as its competitive advantages slip away.”
Photo: CNA
Ma urged the opposition camp to return to democratic constitutionalism.
“Let us all stay within the system and communicate with sincerity,” he said, adding that his administration is “quite willing to uphold democracy by talking with people from all walks of life in a spirit of complete candor.”
Ma also said that China should move toward constitutional democracy and honor pledges it made to Hong Kong when the territory was returned to China in 1997 that for 50 years it would allow “rule of Hong Kong by the people of Hong Kong,” “a high degree of autonomy” and “election of the chief executive through universal suffrage.”
Photo: Reuters
Ma said Beijing should take note that “now is the most appropriate time to move towards constitutional democracy” because China is experiencing rapid economic growth and its people lead affluent lives.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
RSS