The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) objected yesterday to President Chen Shui-bian's (
The TSU urged Chen not to endorse the planned trips by Lien and People First Party Chairman James Soong (
Lien is expected to telephone Chen on Monday to report on the purpose and details of his China trip, set for Tuesday to May 3.
Soong will visit China next month.
According to Lai Hsin-yuan (
Lai accused Chen and Lien of not taking the matter seriously by allowing such discussion to take place over the phone.
Lai also asked the president to clarify if his discussion with Lien mean that he supports the so-called "1992 consensus" on the "one China" issue that Lien is planning to discuss in Beijing.
Chen had previously insisted that there was never any consensus between Taipei and Beijing on the issue during talks held in Hong Kong in 1992 during the rule of the former KMT government.
The TSU lawmaker also accused Chen of being inconsistent in terms of his cross-strait policy, claiming that Chen has been swaying over the past five years between his "five noes" commitment and the "one country on each side" concept and between endorsing the campaign to change the official name of the country and denying it.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
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