The TSU would neither oppose direct links with China nor rule out contacts with Beijing, a lawmaker of the opposition party said yesterday.
TSU Legislator Eric Wu (
Wu said the TSU, which supports the "no haste, be patient" policy, has been misunderstood. It is perceived as an opposition party against the direct links, he added.
Lee, the TSU's spiritual leader, is opposed to a tumultuous rush of investment from Taiwan to China, Wu said.
"What [former] president Lee is against," Wu said, "is not the direct links per se, but the rush of capital investment across the Strait to the detriment of Taiwan's security and dignity."
During his term in office, Lee did not prohibit Taiwan entrepreneurs from investing in China, Wu said. Lee's administration only required government approval of investment projects with a subscribed capital of more than US$50 million.
Critics have mistakenly simplified the TSU's stance on the issue by branding it as a stubborn opponent to any direct links and contacts with China, Wu said.
"We are not opposed to the opening of the three links," the lawmaker said. "Nor are we opposed to direct contacts with Beijing."
The direct links are beneficial to both sides of the Strait, Wu continued. "Why not get going together [over the opening of direct links] within the framework of the WTO?" he asked.
Noting that Beijing allowed him to visit China recently, Wu said the People's Republic of China "is very pragmatic" in dealing with TSU members. Wu visited Beijing not as a TSU legislator but as president of the ROC Harvard Alumni Club.
On June 6, TSU lawmakers suggested that the government should take the bold step of opening the way for Chinese nationals to travel to Taiwan. They said that this would prevent Taiwan's tourism from being negatively affected by any possible future opening of direct links with China.
The lawmakers said that once the direct links are implemented, Taiwan's tourism would shrink substantially because people in Taiwan would prefer to travel in China rather than at home.
To avoid serious consequences for Taiwan's travel industry after any possible opening of links, TSU lawmakers called upon the government to create incentives to attract Chinese visitors to Taiwan.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS