Annie Lee (李安妮), the youngest daughter of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), said yesterday that, "when China attempts to force Taiwan to establish direct links, it is acting like a man who brings 400 wolfhounds to a woman's house and forces her to marry him."
Lee, who is vice president of the Taiwan Research Institute (台綜院), made the remarks at a seminar on direct links, which was held yesterday by an association formed by Lee Teng-hui's supporters in Taipei.
The "400 wolfhounds," she later said, is a metaphor for the 400 missiles placed in China's coastal areas that are aimed at Taiwan.
Annie Lee explained that her views were shaped by her background in women's studies, and compared the issue to marriage, saying that China just wants Taiwan to be "a concubine."
"Direct links with China may have both advantages and disadvantages for Taiwan," she said.
She said she has reservations about the issue but added that Taiwan should seriously consider what it would gain or lose from establishing direct links, just as a woman who faces marriage should consider the pros and cons.
Jan Jyh-horng (
He quoted opinion polls taken by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) that found 70 to 80 percent of Taiwan's residents would accept direct links under certain conditions.
The conditions, according to Jan, are retaining national security and economic freedom.
"We should not respond to China's threats and pressure on Taiwan by calling for immediate links without considering its conditions," he said.
Jan claimed that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) remarks in May -- "Direct links is the road we'll have to follow" -- showed the government's confidence. Jan said that the government should pay attention to "controlling the speed of the links."
Direct links came into spotlight as both Chen and China's Vice Premier Qian Qichen (錢其琛) have talked about the issue over the past two months.
Qian commented on the issue again on Friday and said that direct links could be negotiated without a discussion about the definition of the "one China" principle, though he insisted the matters are the "domestic affairs within one country."
Shen Chih-Hwei (
Shen said the MAC should show its goodwill and use the Taiwan-Hong Kong aviation pact as a model for direct links talks with China.
"We haven't made any progress on direct links because China insists on using the `one China' principle as a framework for future talks. Beijing has shown that it is now willing to negotiate without bringing up the `one China' interpretation, and that tells us that China is offering its goodwill toward Taiwan," she said.
Shaw Chong-hai (邵宗海), a social science professor at National Chengchi University, did not agree with Shen's point of view.
He said in a seminar held in Hong Kong yesterday that Qian's remarks change very little.
"Qian said that the direct links issue can be negotiated without acknowledging the `one China' principle, however, he insisted the matters are an `domestic affairs withinin one country' which basically means `one China,'" he said.
But Shaw said that Qian's remarks showed a degree of flexibility which may make Taiwan feel more amenable to China's overture.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
REVENGE TRAVEL: A surge in ticket prices should ease this year, but inflation would likely keep tickets at a higher price than before the pandemic Scoot is to offer six additional flights between Singapore and Northeast Asia, with all routes transiting Taipei from April 1, as the budget airline continues to resume operations that were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Scoot official said on Thursday. Vice president of sales Lee Yong Sin (李榮新) said at a gathering with reporters in Taipei that the number of flights from Singapore to Japan and South Korea with a stop in Taiwan would increase from 15 to 21 each week. That change means the number of the Singapore-Taiwan-Tokyo flights per week would increase from seven to 12, while Singapore-Taiwan-Seoul
POOR PREPARATION: Cultures can form on food that is out of refrigeration for too long and cooking does not reliably neutralize their toxins, an epidemiologist said Medical professionals yesterday said that suspected food poisoning deaths revolving around a restaurant at Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 Store in Taipei could have been caused by one of several types of bacterium. Ho Mei-shang (何美鄉), an epidemiologist at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, wrote on Facebook that the death of a 39-year-old customer of the restaurant suggests the toxin involved was either “highly potent or present in massive large quantities.” People who ate at the restaurant showed symptoms within hours of consuming the food, suggesting that the poisoning resulted from contamination by a toxin and not infection of the
BAD NEIGHBORS: China took fourth place among countries spreading disinformation, with Hong Kong being used as a hub to spread propaganda, a V-Dem study found Taiwan has been rated as the country most affected by disinformation for the 11th consecutive year in a study by the global research project Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). The nation continues to be a target of disinformation originating from China, and Hong Kong is increasingly being used as a base from which to disseminate that disinformation, the report said. After Taiwan, Latvia and Palestine ranked second and third respectively, while Nicaragua, North Korea, Venezuela and China, in that order, were the countries that spread the most disinformation, the report said. Each country listed in the report was given a score,