Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers slammed the KMT at a press conference yesterday as being responsible for insisting that the Republic of China (ROC) withdraw from the UN 34 years ago and for letting Taiwan lapse into international isolation, while today it has become China's number one accomplice in seeking the unification of Taiwan with China.
DPP Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) held a news conference yesterday to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the UN and urged people to learn the truth about how Taiwan got stuck in its present international fix and remember the historical lessons.
"Taiwan is the only nation that could not experience the joy of the UN's 60th anniversary as the rest of the world celebrated the day on Oct. 25," Tien said.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Tien pointed out that it was the KMT government that sacrificed Taiwan's interests and rights because of its "one China" illusion. It ignored the US and Japan's efforts to help and its actions eventually led to Taiwan being marooned in international isolation.
"People might think that it doesn't matter if Taiwan joins the UN or not," Tien said.
"But in fact, for any nation, it is increasingly important to be a member," especially in the face of the growing tide of globalization. Many matters concerning people's rights and economic development require statehood in order to enable participation," she said.
In organizations such as the IMF, the WTO and the World Health Organization (WHO), Taiwan has been obstructed from obtaining full member status, Tien said.
DPP caucus whip William Lai (
"However, as soon as it lost executive power, it gave up on this insistence and instead became the Chinese Communist Party's biggest helper in their unification war with Taiwan," Lai said. "The KMT is totally dishonest."
"KMT members line up to pay tribute to the Chinese authorities these days and promote the policies that attempt to sell-out Taiwan to China," Lai said.
"It should be held responsible for this period of history and learn to curb its evil intentions right away," he said.
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth