Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) should be mindful during his upcoming visit to China not to overstep his purview when it comes to cross-strait issues and be wary of any political framework Beijing might try to impose, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday.
Su made the remarks in response to lawmakers’ questions about Han’s remark on Monday, when the mayor said he hoped the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) would approve his plan for a week-long visit to China.
Announcing a plan to visit Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Xiamen from March 22 to March 28, Han, a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), said he hoped the trip would generate opportunities to further economic interaction across the Taiwan Strait.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The visit would focus on how to improve the economy, with care taken to minimize political interaction as much as possible, Han said, adding that he would comply with the council’s regulations and not meet with high-ranking Chinese officials.
On Monday evening, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said it “welcomed and supported” Han’s visit “to develop cross-strait ties between cities on the basis of the 1992 consensus.”
The so-called “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit agreement between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Former MAC chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up the term in 2000.
Su Tseng-chang said the council has always supported mutually beneficial exchanges between local governments on both sides of the Strait.
However, China set the wheels of “unification” in motion by saying that it has not renounced the use of force in efforts to annex Taiwan, and advocates the “1992 consensus” to impose its “one country, two systems” model on Taiwan, the premier said.
“We strongly oppose such assertions by China. The central government adopts a firm stance when defending the nation’s sovereignty, which does not concern local governments,” he said.
Local government leaders can engage in equal, mutually beneficial exchanges to boost local development, but Han must stay out of matters handled by the central government, he said.
“Do not be hemmed in by political frameworks imposed by a totalitarian Chinese government that has not given up annexing Taiwan by force,” Su added.
MAC Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said that after a discussion with Han, he felt “reassured” about the trip, and the council on Monday offered Han any assistance necessary.
Meanwhile, New Power Party Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) asked why the council appeared to have been less strict in reviewing applications for visits by Chinese officials.
Immigration Agency statistics showed that the council in 2016, 2017 and last year rejected 6.8 percent, 6 percent and 5.5 percent of such requests respectively, Lim said.
Chen said that the council encourages cross-strait exchanges if they are carried out on an equal footing.
Lim said that Chinese officials tasked with penetrating Taiwanese society would not reveal their true intentions on an application form, citing the “Sing! China: Shanghai-Taipei Music Festival” in 2017.
The singing contest, held at National Taiwan University, was thrown into chaos after armed Chinese Unity Promotion Party members attacked and injured four students at the school.
Su Tseng-chang said he agreed with Lim — applications should undergo stricter review — but that the process should not be so strict that no Chinese would be allowed entry.
Additional reporting by Wang Jung-hsiang
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS