China's proposed "anti-secession" law will hurt the status quo and both China and Taiwan should take a step back and make compromises to resolve the situation, Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"China's actions are escalating tensions across the Strait. Both sides should take a step back; if [China and Taiwan] are competing to prove their own bravery, then that is very dangerous," Ma said at ceremony marking the donation of a refugee house in Taipei.
NPC
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
Ma's comments come on the heels of recent calls from pan-green politicians for him and fellow Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to clarify their stances on the draft law set to be passed by China's National People's Congress within the month.
A statement made by Chinese President Hu Jin-tao (
Positive factors
In his Friday statement, Hu alluded to President Chen Shui-bian's (
The "four noes" refer to Chen's pledge to refrain from declaring independence, changing the nation's title, pushing for the inclusion of the state-to-state description of cross-strait relations in the Constitution and promoting a referendum to change the status quo on independence or unification during his term in office.
Jeopardy
Saying that the basic rule in maintaining peace between the two sides of the strait is that "China does not use force and Taiwan does not declare independence," Ma noted that if neither side can respect this rule, cross-strait relations will be jeopardized.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
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