Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in Switzerland on Wednesday warned that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) plan to scrap the National Unification Council and the national unification guidelines may have "serious consequences."
Ma issued the warning while answering questions from reporters upon his arrival at Geneva airport from Turin, Italy, as he continued his five-nation European tour.
Taiwan's Representative to Geneva Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡), greeted Ma as he arrived at the airport.
Although Chen proposed the idea without mentioning how it would be put into practice, Ma said that he wanted to remind the president that such a plan could have grave consequences if it were carried out, as illustrated by Washington's reaction.
Peace and prosperity
Stating that the aim of the KMT's cross-strait policy is to achieve peace and prosperity for Taiwan, Ma stressed that he will advocate a "third path" for Taiwan -- maintaining the status quo while boosting bilateral exchanges and mutual understanding across the Strait.
Ma was expected to fly to London last night after his Italian visit.
Chen said in his Jan. 29 Lunar New Year speech that the time may be right to ponder dissolving the council and its guidelines as China had failed to renounce the use of force against Taiwan.
Chen's New Year remarks immediately drew a backlash from the US, which reiterated its opposition to any unilateral changes made by either Taiwan or China to the cross-strait status quo.
According to Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who met with Chen on Wednesday, the president again aired his views about scrapping the National Unification Council and national unification guidelines to counter Ma's "eventual unification" theory, which the president viewed as a violation of the Taiwanese people's right to decide their own future.
Focused
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (
The "eventual unification" that Ma referred to must be based on preconditions of peace and equitable prosperity on both sides of the Strait and with the consent of Taiwan's people, Lai said, adding that what Ma talked about did not exceed the framework of the National Unification Council or its guidelines.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) accused the president of playing hardball by saying that he had unfairly interpreted Ma's remarks to the foreign media as a way of shifting the general public's attention from the poor performance of the government.
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 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
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
RSS