As the DPP's New Tide faction is the first and only faction to come out and advocate a different approach to that contained in the president's New Year speech, faction members yesterday did not seem to be impressed by the explanation offered by National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁).
DPP Legislator Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠) called for more transparency in the president's decision-making process, saying that setting government policies without consulting party members was bound to cause a backlash.
Although Shen said that he agrees with Chiou that it is inappropriate for faction members to use such expressions as "one-person decision-making" to criticize the president, Shen said that he is afraid that Chiou knows little about what faction members think because Chiou has shunned factional activities for a long time.
Shen said that he hopes the incident will serve as an opportunity for policy makers to realize that thorough discussion of major government policies is very important during the decision-making process.
Another faction member, Liu Shih-fang (
Liu said that the association would also publish a quarterly discussing cross-strait issues.
"The association has nothing to do with the president's New Year address and is not politically motivated," Liu said. "We just want more young scholars who are interested in cross-strait studies and identify with the party to join the association because the party desperately needs people specialized in cross-strait matters."
While the government is unlikely to accept the offer of two pandas from China, another faction member, Lin Wuei-chou (
"Pandas are not missiles or a Trojan horse. Why does the government have to make a mountain out of a mole hill?" he said. "Rejecting the pandas only shows that we are afraid of them."
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard