Taiwan has never been, and will never be, any part of China, regardless what it claims in its "anti-secession law," Vice President Annette Lu (
"Based on historical facts, Taiwan has never been -- in the past or in the future -- any part of China. No matter what China is to stipulate in the `anti-secession law,' it won't change this fact," Lu said.
Beijing's intention to make such a law can only make the international community understand that China's bullying of Taiwan will have no end, according to Lu.
The vice president made the remarks yesterday while answering reporters' questions regarding Beijing's plan to pass legislation of a law allegedly aimed to serve as China's legal claim to Taiwan.
China has a Constitution, and Taiwan has one too, Lu said.
"They have their renminbi, while we have our New Taiwan dollar and Taiwan's young men don't take national service in China. With an `anti-secession law,' even if China could claim sovereignty over Tibet or Xinjiang, they can't claim it over Taiwan," Lu said.
Citing Beijing's so-called "three-phrase war," namely a media war, psychological war and legal war against Taiwan, China is now beginning the third phrase of this war, according to Lu.
"The government and the opposition must unite and cooperate," Lu said, adding, "There is only one Taiwan, and we should work together to love this land."
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"The intention to make an anti-secession law is unnecessary and unwise," Ma said.
"President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) campaign language during the legislative elections might have gone too far, and might have worsened cross-strait tensions. But China's plan to make such a law also seems to be going too far," he said.
China's intended legislation shows it has lost patience with Taiwan, Ma said .
Since China has never been a country to follow the rule of law, it does not need a law if it really wants to invade Taiwan, he added.
"Therefore, such a law is not necessary," Ma also said.
The front pages of state-run Chinese newspapers carried the story about the leadership's plan to draft the law yesterday, but it did not refer to Taiwan specifically.
China had earlier floated a "reunification" law, rather than an "anti-secession" law. Xinhua news agency did not explain the change.
Some Taiwanese analysts said the new draft of the law was passive in nature, and could be viewed legally obliging the Communist Party to prevent Taiwan from declaring independence. They also said it did not necessarily mean Beijing would push urgently for unification.
The Grand Hotel Taipei on Saturday confirmed that its information system had been illegally accessed and expressed its deepest apologies for the concern it has caused its customers, adding that the issue is being investigated by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. The hotel said that on Tuesday last week, it had discovered an external illegal intrusion into its information system. An initial digital forensic investigation confirmed that parts of the system had been accessed, it said, adding that the possibility that some customer data were stolen and leaked could not be ruled out. The actual scope and content of the affected data
DO THEY BITE IT? Cats have better memories than people might think, but their motivation is based entirely around the chance of getting fed Cats can remember the identity of the people who fed them the day before, Taipei-based veterinarians said on Friday, debunking a popular myth that cats have a short memory. If a stray does not recognize the person who fed them the previous day, it is likely because they are not carrying food and the cat has no reason to recognize them, said Wu Chou Animal Hospital head Chen Chen-huan (陳震寰). “When cats come to a human bearing food, it is coming for the food, not the person,” he said. “The food is the key.” Since the cat’s attention is on the food, it
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday bestowed one of Taiwan’s highest honors on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Ambassador Andrea Clare Bowman in recognition of her contributions to bilateral ties. “By conferring the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon on Ambassador Bowman today, I want to sincerely thank her, on behalf of the Taiwanese people, for her outstanding contribution to deepening diplomatic ties between Taiwan and SVG,” Lai said at a ceremony held at the Presidential Office in Taipei. He noted that Bowman became SVG’s first ambassador to Taiwan in 2019 and
RSS