The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of trying to evade legislative oversight of cross-strait affairs following news reports that KMT Chairman and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) is scheduled to meet with Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) in May or June.
Chu said in Hong Kong on Monday that “it is natural” for the KMT chairman to attend the annual KMT-CCP forum, or the cross-strait economic, trade and culture forum that was launched in 2006 when the DPP was the ruling party.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office responded quickly, with spokeswoman Fan Liqing (范麗青) saying on Tuesday that Chu was welcome to visit China at his convenience and to “work to promote cross-strait relations and cement the consensus on the ‘1992 consensus’ and the anti-independence stance.”
Photo: Lee Ya-wen, Taipei Times
According to the Chinese-language Apple Daily, which cited an anonymous KMT official in the report published yesterday, Chu has decided to visit China with a group to attend the 10th KMT-CCP forum and meet with Xi, which has received President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) support.
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) said that the council “would be glad to see” any interaction between the two parties as long as it is advantageous to the mutual understanding of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Meanwhile, the DPP expressed concern that the KMT, as the ruling party, might force the public to accept any deals it struck with Beijing.
DPP caucus convener Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said that cross-strait negotiations have become “single-track” since the council took over and the Straits Exchange Foundation’s role was diminished. However, Chu is now trying to re-establish a “double-track negotiation system” with the KMT-CCP forum and seize the lead over Ma in cross-strait affairs.
A double-track system would allow negotiations to evade legislative scrutiny, he said.
“The DPP is for cross-strait interactions, but they have to be transparent and monitored,” he said.
“The cause of the Sunflower movement is still vivid in memory. The public will not accept any attempts to force them to swallow agreements borne out of negotiations that they had not sanctioned,” Tsai added.
DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said a Chu-Xi meeting would allow Chu, as KMT chairman, to meet the Chinese president.
“But is the cross-strait relationship a party-to-party one? Is the KMT representative of the Taiwanese people?” Lee asked.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-jen (吳育仁) said that the DPP could also set up its own forum with the CCP if it is “uncomfortable with the KMT-CCP forum.”
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a