Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday urged the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) to provide a detailed explanation of China’s limited transit flight proposal.
“Issues regarding cross-strait exchanges should be subjected to full-scale negotiations. I would take them in my stride if they have been through a democratic procedure and handled with equality and dignity,” Tsai said on the sidelines of a Taipei campaign event for DPP legislative candidate Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤).
If other matters were involved in the negotiations on the transit plan, the council should provide the public with a detailed account of the negotiations, she said.
Photo: Wally Santana, AP
Xinhua news agency on Tuesday carried an announcement from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office that residents of three Chinese cities — Chongqing, Kunming and Nanchang — would be allowed to transit through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for flights to a third nation, although a starting date was not given.
The council hailed the announcement as the result of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore on Nov. 7 last year, and said it hoped the plan would be expanded to cover all Chinese travelers in the near future.
Asked whether the timing of China’s announcement was suspicious, coming so close to the presidential and legislative elections, Tsai said: “I will treat the matter with an ordinary mind.”
Cross-strait negotiations on the transit issue had been dragging, reportedly due to Beijing’s insistence that Taipei allow Chinese airlines to fly over the midline of the Taiwan Strait in return for a deal on Taoyuan transits.
Turning to the reported disappearances of five men associated with a Hong Kong-based publishing house, Mighty Current (巨流), known for books critical of the Chinese Communist Party leadership, Tsai said the Hong Kong and Chinese governments should give the public a clear explanation of what has happened to the men and adopt concrete measures to ensure freedom of speech for Hong Kong residents.
The disappearances have triggered protests in Hong Kong, as it is widely believed that the five might have been seized by Chinese law enforcement agents, as the publishing house is reportedly scheduled to release a book about a former girlfriend of Xi’s.
“This case concerns freedom of expression, which is highly valued by Taiwanese, because Taiwan went through a very difficult period to win our freedom of speech,” Tsai said.
Tsai said the nation’s history has made Taiwanese particularly concerned about whether freedom of speech is protected in other areas and countries.
Freedom of speech is a universal value, Tsai said.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
RSS