Refusing to take the back seat in shaping Taiwan's destiny, hund-reds of overseas independence activists gathered in Taipei yesterday for the World Taiwanese Congress (WTC) which is taking place over the weekend.
Their arrival is seen as a mixed blessing by the ruling DPP -- once their staunch ally -- with officials who have a big stake in the December elections hesitant to show them warm hospitality.
"Let all who love Taiwan say yes to the [independence] cause," Lee Sheng-hsiung (李勝雄), leader of the Taiwan Independence Party, said at an evening news conference.
The blunt-speaking lawyer likened the Republic of China to the fable "The Emperor's New Clothes" -- saying that it is nonexistent.
The WTC, formed four months ago by more than 90 pro-independence groups worldwide, is to convene its first plenary meeting today and tomorrow in Taipei in part to celebrate the anniversary of President Chen Shui-bian's electoral win.
Some 400 overseas Taiwanese from 17 countries, including Tokyo-based National Policy Advisor Alice King (
Chen, walking a tightrope to pacify foes at home and across the Strait, is expected to avoid controversial language on the sovereignty issue when addressing the WTC forum this morning.
Chang Lipang (張理邦), 55, a resident of Toronto, Canada, expressed the hope that the presence of so many overseas activists would provide some cheer to Chen as well as curb what he sees as Chen's increasing drift away from the independence crusade.
DPP lawmaker Wang To (王拓) was sceptical, however. He said he admired the fortitude demonstrated by the overseas Taiwanese in pursuit of Taiwan sovereignty but warned that their appeal could backfire and harm the Chen administration.
He said that Chen had tried to remain neutral on the issue in the hope of preserving stability, without which the government could not translate its mandate into the ability to deliver its platform.
"The DPP cannot afford to provoke the opposition, whose lawmakers have repeatedly thwarted its policy goals," Wang said.
Wang is seeking another term in the year-end legislative elections.
Echoing Wang's comments, his colleague Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄), who lived in the US for two decades, said overseas Taiwanese tend to be less pragmatic when it comes to approaching the sovereignty issue.
He said he recognized that the majority of the electorate prefers to maintain the status quo. A three-term legislator, Shen has made clear he too is seeking re-election later this year.
Hsu Shih-mo (
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
RSS