Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday he will promote Taiwan's sovereignty by demanding the government refer to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in official documents as "China."
Yu made the remarks when questioned by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) yesterday in the Legislative Yuan.
Shen said to Yu that official government documents never referred to the PRC as the PRC, and asked Yu whether it was negligent for the government not to do so.
Yu responded by saying that he had started to address PRC as China recently.
"At least since President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) second term began, I have addressed the country on the other side of the Taiwan Strait as China," Yu said. "I also demand, from now on, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government agencies address the other side, the PRC, as China. China is the PRC, and not just verbally but in writing too," he said.
"In the Executive Yuan's administrative report to the Legislative Yuan this past June, the first focus was to realize Taiwan's sovereignty. Now we have decided on a directive to address the PRC as China," Yu said.
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Kau (高英茂) said that addressing the PRC as China was nothing new.
"In the past we have addressed the PRC as the Chinese Communist Party, Beijing, PRC, and China, so calling them China is nothing new," Kau said.
"Although the premier's statement gave us a unified and clear direction for the future, what he said was nothing new, and I hope this won't devolve into some political spat," Kau said.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) voiced support for Yu's statement.
"Before, we used to call China the Chinese Communist Party, but since China is really an independent sovereign country, we should address them as China according to international norms," said TSU caucus whip Huang Chung-yuan (黃宗源).
"So calling the PRC China in official documents is correct," he said.
But the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus still suggested "mainland China" was a more appropriate term.
"The cross-strait relationship is in a quite sensitive position, and the government should act according to the ROC Constitution, KMT caucus whip Tseng Yuan-chuan (曾永權) said. "It is still better to address China as `mainland China.'"
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
RSS