President Chen Shui-bian (
Ma made the comments while answering questions from reporters during a visit to eastern Ilan County regarding Chen's remarks a day earlier that "Lien's China visit will enable the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] to bring Taiwan into its fold."
Saying that an "opposition party has no power to sell Taiwan out," Ma said that Chen should wish Lien success during his China visit and help him complete the task that could bring peace to Taiwan.
Ma added that he will also consider visiting China, if such a visit is determined to be beneficial to Taiwan, should he win the election for the KMT chairmanship in July.
Meanwhile, a KMT lawmaker said that Lien's upcoming visit to China has gained strong support among the public.
Legislator Chen Chieh (
Stressing that Lien's China visit is aimed at seeking the maximum benefits for the people of Taiwan, Chen Chieh claimed that he has strong confidence that the popular backing for Lien's visit will be reflected in the National Assembly election set for May 14.
He called on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its political ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, to be cognizant of the KMT's efforts to build peace for Taiwan and urged the DPP to bravely face up to the development for the sake of Taiwan's stability and prosperity.
The government should give its blessing to the KMT for its peace-forging efforts because the Taiwan people hope that the opposition camp can help the government achieve something that is beyond its own reach, Chen said.
Lien is scheduled to visit China in late April or early May, during which he will make stops in Xian, Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing.
The KMT chairman is slated to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao (
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS