Chinese have a “sacred mission” to ensure Taiwan is always considered part of China, a top Chinese leader said yesterday ahead of the 70th anniversary of Japan giving up control of Taiwan at the end of World War II.
Taiwan was a Japanese colony between 1895 and 1945 and the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government took over the rule of the nation after Japan lost World War II. Japan had gained control from imperial China.
The KMT fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civil War with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which insists Taiwan is an integral part of China and has never renounced the use of forces to bring it under Beijing’s control.
Speaking at an event in Beijing to mark the anniversary, National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Yu Zhengsheng (俞正聲), the party’s fourth-ranked leader, said Taiwan’s “recovery” had “washed away the national shame” of repeated foreign invasions of China.
Since 1949, the reality that the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan were part of one China had never changed, Yu said, in comments carried by the Xinhua news agency.
“Maintaining the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and maintaining no changes to the position that Taiwan is part of China is a sacred mission for all the sons and daughters of China,” he added.
Taiwan marks Retrocession Day tomorrow at an event overseen by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). Retrocession Day celebrates the end of the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan on Oct. 25, 1945, as well as the conclusion of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and is observed by Chinese worldwide.
Yu made no direct reference to January’s legislative and presidential elections in the speech, but said that both Taiwanese and Chinese must oppose any move to upset ties and damage rapidly improving relations.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
RSS