Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) sparked controversy by sharing an article that said Taiwan has to be ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to complete its “historic mission” of unification.
“It marked the end of the Republic of China [ROC] when the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] assumed leadership of the ROC. Taiwan has to be united [with China] by the CCP to complete its historic mission,” media personality Liu Yi-hung (劉益宏) wrote in an article, which was posted by Tsai on Sina Weibo, the largest Chinese microblogging Web site.
Liu published the article on Facebook on Friday, saying: “The KMT and CCP are vying for the right to represent China, and both support the ‘one China’ principle. The ROC and People’s Republic of China [PRC] are in fact two nations fighting against each other for the sake of one [Chinese] nation, which can only be accomplished when either the ROC or the PRC is eliminated.”
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
“The PRC represents China, and Taiwan can only be a part of China, while the ROC in Taiwan comes to an end when it is under the DPP’s rule,” the article said.
“The idea of Taiwanese independence has spread and the CCP has to shoulder its historic responsibility [to unite Taiwan with China],” it added. “Politicians, especially Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), have to make the decision at this critical moment.”
Several Taiwanese critized Tsai for sharing the article, which they said was welcoming a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Saying that political leaders across party lines were working to eliminate discrimination and hatred amid the recent controversy surrounding discriminatory remarks by self-styled citizen journalist Hung Su-chu (洪素珠) against an elderly waishengren (外省人, Mainlander) — a term referring to people who fled to Taiwan with the KMT in 1949 after its defeat in the Chinese Civil War — DPP spokesman Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) said Tsai, in his capacity as a KMT official, was acting inappropriately by sharing an article that seemingly welcomed a Chinese military invasion of Taiwan.
“Is KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) behind Tsai’s move? Is the opinion of the leader of a KMT committee also the KMT’s policy?” Wang asked in a Facebook post.
To put the KMT on track, Hung Hsiu-chu should oversee the conduct of party members and ask Tsai to remove the article, deliver a public apology and promise not to make the same mistake again, Wang said.
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS