Responding yesterday to the uproar over his visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine during his Japan trip, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Shu Chin-chiang (
"Those I paid homage to at the Yasukuni Shrine are Taiwanese people's ancestors who died in a foreign land," Shu said.
"The last thing I would do is to recognize militarism," the TSU leader said.
"Those political parties and figures who criticized me should consider how much they did for their ancestors who are buried in a foreign land," he said.
Shu made the remarks yesterday morning at a TSU press conference welcoming 100 new members to the party.
The new TSU recruits gave Shu a bouquet of flowers and voiced support for him.
Shu and eight fellow TSU members came back from Japan on Tuesday evening and were greeted by hostile protesters, led by Aboriginal Legislator Kao Chin Su-mei (
When heading for the airport exit, Shu was manhandled by an angry mob.
"I believe that TSU's growth and maturity depends on the support of Taiwanese people and their identification with Taiwan," Shu said.
"I used to be in the military, so I wasn't intimidated by the protesters," he added.
At yesterday's TSU press conference, members of the pro-unification Patriot Association (
Shu said that his visit to Japan focused mainly on strengthening cooperation between Taiwan and Japan with regard to international security, and he felt sorry that some people distorted the intent of his visit into a tribute to Japanese militarism.
"It is ironic that some political parties to stigmatize my visit to Japan, yet justify their collaboration with China," Shu said.
"China has 700 missiles pointed at Taiwan ... they are the ones who embrace militarism," he said.
TSU spokesman Chen Chien-ming (
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang (
"China's `Anti-Secession' Law is aimed at resolving the `Taiwan issue' with `non-peaceful means,'" Lee said.
"This has aroused concern from the international community about China expanding its military capabilities. I think that's a point that people should pay attention to," he said
"According to the DPP's policy, we aim to settle disputes with peaceful means, not force. We oppose militarism of any kind," Lee said.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS