Intimidation will only drive Taiwan further away from China, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) delivered a tough speech on national sovereignty in Beijing.
During a nearly one-hour speech to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Xi said China would never permit the loss of “any piece” of its land.
DPP spokesman Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) said the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign country, and Taiwan’s future has to be decided by its 23 million citizens through a democratic process.
“China has to respect the fact that the ROC exists, respect the mainstream public opinion in Taiwan, respect the faith of Taiwanese in democratic values and respect Taiwan’s democratic system and the choices of its people,” Wang said.
Peace and development across the Taiwan Strait have to be built on reciprocal interactions and dialogues and increased mutual understanding to maintain regional stability, he said.
“Any intimidating language will only drive Taiwan away and is detrimental to the peaceful development of cross-strait relations,” he said.
Xi also emphasized that the PLA’s highest loyalty is to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and demanded that it possess the “four consciousnesses”: ideology, the whole, the core and the line.
Taiwan Thinktank researcher Tung Li-wen (董立文) said as Xi has been styled the “core” of the CCP and his talk of the “four consciousnesses” indicates a desire to assert personal control over the military and consolidate his political power ahead of the party’s 19th National Congress this fall.
In a major break from tradition, no former party chairmen were present at yesterday’s anniversary parade, Tung said.
Those actions showed that Xi intends to transform the PLA into “an armed guard of the party under his personal control,” he said.
“Xi is clearly the most powerful man in China. However, if Xi’s power base really is secure, why does he need to posture so frequently and openly in demonstration of his power?” Tung said.
The fragility or strength of Xi as core leader can only be determined after the next generation of leaders emerge during the national congress, Tung said.
As of press time last night, the government had not officially responded to Xi’s speech.
Additional reporting by AP
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique