Pro-independence forces in Taiwan might launch terrorist attacks on China, Chinese state media charged yesterday as it linked Taiwan to the banned "evil cult" Falun Gong.
In what appeared to be a new campaign to blacken the name of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), the China Daily ran an opinion piece headlined "Terrorism part of Taiwan separatist agenda."
Citing military experts and researchers on Taiwan studies, it said terrorism could be used "in an attempt to split the island from China."
It also condemned the US "for instigating Taipei to engage in terrorism to hurt China's core national interests."
The article was published a day after a group of legislators led by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) left for the US to study options for planned billion-dollar weapons purchases. This week Taiwan also tested two US-made Patriot missiles.
It also follows a Pentagon report suggesting that Taiwan needs ballistic missiles and land-attack cruise missiles capable of hitting China as a "cost-effective means of deterrence."
Targets that were cited include the massive Three Gorges Dam and the 468m-high Oriental Pearl TV tower in Shanghai.
A Beijing-based military expert identified as Yan Dong (嚴冬) was quoted in the China Daily as saying the attack scenarios exposed the tip of the iceberg of "Taiwan independence terrorism."
"That may well suggest pro-independence forces in Taiwan are turning to terrorist measures to help pursue their political goal of formal independence for the island," Yan said.
Yan argued that the Taiwanese military might be planning terrorist attacks "on state leaders, media organizations, nuclear-power plants and hydroelectric projects on the mainland."
"That's because splittist forces are increasingly feeling they cannot win a cross-strait war, given the mainland's growing economic and military power," he said.
The report went as far as linking Taiwan independence forces to the Falun Gong, saying Taiwan separatists "once supported the outlawed Falun Gong cult to hijack mainland satellite TV programs from the island in September 2002."
Li Jiaquan (
"As Taiwan's biggest arms supplier, Washington has always been playing an ignominious role on the Taiwan issue by lending covert or overt support to pro-independence forces in Taiwan," he told the China Daily. "It is shameless for the United States, which has been urging a global anti-terrorism campaign, to encourage Taipei to promote terrorism."
Taiwan's defense ministry spokesman, Major-General Huang Suei-sheng (黃穗生), declined to comment.
"It is our policy not to comment on any opinion piece," Huang said.
But a high-ranking military officer, who asked not to be named, yesterday said the report was "too ridiculous to warrant comment."
Additional reporting by Lindy Yeh
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
RSS