Presidential Office adviser and long-time independence advocate Su Beng (史明) late on Thursday evening expressed on Facebook his support for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to seek re-election next year.
The move came after Presidential Office adviser Wu Li-pei (吳澧培), former Presidential Office adviser Peng Ming-min (彭明敏), former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) and the Reverend Kao Chun-ming (高俊明) in an open letter on Thursday urged Tsai not to seek re-election.
Su, 101, urged people to support Tsai in the presidential election next year, as “otherwise, it would not only be Tsai’s personal failure, but also the failure of Su Beng and the pro-independence movement.”
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The “one country, two systems” scheme Beijing tried to force upon the nation on Wednesday was a “colonial” policy, Su said.
“The Taiwanese independence movement is 99.9 percent complete. The last fight is in the remaining 0.1 percent,” said Su, also known as the “pro-independence grandpa.”
“Taiwan is where we were born and where we live. [Only] Taiwanese are the masters of Taiwan,” he said.
In the “last fight,” Taiwan must abide by its principles: promote nationalism and defeat colonialism; follow policies to move Taiwanese independence from an “ideal” to a “reality”; and engage in spiritual pursuits to become better people, which has to do with liberation, he said.
The three principles are themselves forms of spiritual pursuits Taiwanese should engage in, he added.
The post drew a response from Tsai, who yesterday morning replied: “Thank you so much, grandpa. Please take care.”
Su is the author of Taiwan’s 400-Year History (台灣人四百年史).
Separately yesterday, Overseas Taiwanese for Democracy, a group of Taiwanese studying or working overseas, also issued a statement in support of Tsai.
Taiwan is at a crossroads never before seen in history and many are at a loss as to the way forward, the statement said.
“What Taiwan needs now is strength from the unity of all its people coming together to make their own path,” the statement said. “Under the leadership of a president who is resolute, composed, flexible and yet tough, [Taiwan will] gradually bring reform to internal affairs, broaden diplomatic space and strive toward the future.”
Tough at times and moderate when needed, Tsai has exercised flexibility in her governance, it said.
“A good leader needs these qualities to help Taiwan sail through the storm and the tumultuous times it is having both domestically and internationally,” it said. “We openly support President Tsai and her administration, as well as the efforts they have made to achieve reform goals, including marriage equality, labor rights, pension reforms and transitional justice.”
A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is seeking US$2 billion of compensation in damages from Panama over its “illegal” takeover of the ports. Panama Ports Co, a unit of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings (長江和記實業), on Friday said in a statement that it is demanding the sum under international arbitration proceedings that it had already started. The Panamanian government last week seized control of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on each end of the Panama Canal, after the country’s Supreme Court declared earlier that a concession allowing
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
RSS