Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday departed for a 12-day visit of six cities in the US to meet with US officials and the Taiwanese-American community.
Tsai is to make stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, New York, Houston and San Francisco, meeting with US Representative Ed Royce, former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, business leaders and officials in the current administration whose names and titles the party would not disclose.
Cross-strait relations, especially Tsai’s definition of the cross-strait “status quo,” as well as recent disputes over the South China Sea, are expected to be the major topics of conversation with US officials during the visit, as several US officials and academics expressed interest in exchanging views with Tsai on those issues before her departure.
Photo: Taipei Times
Deputy Legislative Speaker and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential hopeful Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) called on Tsai to clarify her China policy and her stance on the disputed South China Sea islands in a statement issued just before Tsai’s departure.
Hung questioned Tsai’s stance that maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” is “aligned with the US” — which Tsai told pro-independence groups earlier this month — asking whether Tsai also endorses the US’ acknowledgement of the Chinese Communist Party government as the only legitimate government of China and the US’ opposition to Taiwan’s participation in international organizations that require statehood.
Hung, the sole presidential hopeful to have successfully registered in the KMT’s presidential primary, said that Tsai should not make any decisions that would damage the nation’s interests simply to win the US’ approval of her presidential bid.
Saying that Washington hopes for a US-friendly policy by Tsai on the escalating territorial disputes in the South China Sea — or at least a softer position than that espoused by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) — Hung said that Tsai should not sacrifice Taiwan’s territorial integrity in the region, part of which Taiwan claims.
In related news, pro-unification groups were reportedly mobilizing taxi drivers to “see Tsai off” to protest against her US visit by paying each “protester” NT$1,500.
Saying that the police had told the DPP that there could be an ulterior motive behind the protest, DPP spokesperson Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) on Thursday called on protest organizers not to exploit taxi drivers to incite violence. The DPP respects freedom of expression, but calls for a non-violent protest, he said.
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