The course charted by President Chen Shui-bian (
Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭), vice executive director of the KMT's Policy Committee and director of the party's Department of Chinese Affairs, said in a press release that Chen's talk of Taiwan as a "country having a total land area of 36,000km2" and his plan to hold a referendum in 2007 for "Taiwan's new Constitution" by 2008 signify movement toward de jure Tai-wanese independence.
"It is hard to imagine that the US Congress will approve of such dangerous behavior that would cross Beijing's [red line]," he said.
Chang was critical of Chen for not following a course of reconciliation with China but rather heightening confrontation in the Taiwan Strait.
He added that Chen had tightened the policy governing Taiwan's economic and trade relations with China by switching from the slogan "active opening, effective management" to "active management, effective opening."
Chang said Chen mentioned the nation's official name, the Republic of China, in his address only twice -- the second time when he spoke of China's "annihilation" of the Republic of China in 1949.
Instead, Chen used the name "Taiwan" 70 times, Chang said.
Chang said that although Chen did not say it explicitly, the theme of his address was that there are two countries on either side of the Taiwan Strait: Taiwan and China.
He said that people were disappointed with the president's New Year message because it said nothing about badly needed direct links in trade, post and transportation, nor anything about charter flights.
The public could no longer pin their hopes for peace and stability between Taiwan and China on the president, he said, and in the remaining two years of Chen's term, the KMT would do everything possible to prevent a cross-strait crisis.
Meanwhile, the People First Party (PFP) lambasted Chen's address as "tremendously unintelligent" as "it is poised to ignite tension between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and deepen the political stalemate between the ruling and the opposition parties."
The PFP condemned Chen's new China policies, saying in a written statement that his tightened economic and trade policies are "compromising his career and doing the people of Taiwan a great disservice."
Describing the six major reform priorities that the president spelled out in the address as "providing no direction for the country to follow," the statement said the president's announcement was a move tantamount to "scratching an itch through his boot."
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
RSS