Former president Lee Teng-hui (
The event's organizer, the Hand-in-Hand Taiwan Alliance, invited Lee, Examination Yuan President Yao Chia-wen (
Pro-independence campaigners at the event reiterated that it was important to create a new constitution and rectify the country's official name, saying that these two steps are the fundamental keys to solving the problem of Taiwan's national status.
Lee said in his speech that although a tangible armed force is important to Taiwan, intangible psychological defenses are also needed to resist China's psychological war.
He said that the tricks China is using in its campaign to unify with Taiwan are becoming increasingly flexible and diversified, and that the people of Taiwan cannot afford to lower their psychological defenses against China just because Beijing is seemingly offering some benefits.
"China has changed its strategies concerning Taiwan since Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Lowering tuition fees for Taiwanese students, giving away pandas and offering duty-free imports for some kinds of Taiwanese fruit are the bait that China is using to shatter people's psychological defenses, he said.
While the rest of the world was denouncing Beijing's "Anti-Secession" Law, the leaders of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), People First Party and New Party visited China, offering themselves up as pawns to promote Beijing's policies, Lee said.
"The menace China represents to Taiwan will only increase. If we do not speed up the progress of writing a new constitution and rectifying the country's official name, Taiwan's sovereignty and national status will be jeopardized," he said.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese