The Taiwan Brain Trust (TBT) think tank yesterday urged the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to be “localized,” and China to be practical in handling cross-strait relations.
The KMT’s heavy defeat showed voters do not trust the party’s China-leaning policies, therefore the KMT should adjust its stance and become more “localized,” Soochow University political science professor Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) told a news conference at the think tank’s headquarters in Taipei.
“When the Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜) incident happened, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) immediately expressed his support [for Chou], but it still became a political tsunami, and while all three presidential candidates had similar reactions, the KMT was still hurt the most by it,” said Hsu, who is also a New Power Party legislator-at-large-elect.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Chou, a 16-year-old Taiwanese singer in South Korea, was labelled by China-based Taiwanese singer Huang An (黃安) as a supporter of Taiwan independence after she held a Republic of China (ROC) flag on a TV show in South Korea. A video clip released late on Friday that showed Chou apologizing drew angry responses in Taiwan. Many reacted by casting their votes for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday to show their discontent over China’s sovereignty claim over Taiwan.
Meanwhile, think tank deputy executive director Lin Ting-hui (林廷輝) called on Beijing to take a more practical approach in its handling of cross-strait relations.
“Taiwanese want a transparent, open and healthy cross-strait relationship,” Lin said. “Ma might have done much, but the problems are transparency and justice.”
Lin said that in the past 10 years, the KMT has had an almost monopoly over cross-strait exchanges, adding that such exchanges have not been effective, but have contributed to a rising Taiwan identity and a sense of crisis among the public.
“Beijing has always said that it ‘puts hopes in the people of Taiwan,’ and it is time for it to rethink what that means,” Lin said. “Tsai has held out the olive branch in her acceptance speech that she would strive to maintain the ‘status quo’ while trying to communicate with Beijing, and now it is Beijing’s turn to think how it would respond to the call.”
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from