The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) will normalize Taiwan's exchanges with China if the party regains power in 2008, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma made the remarks during a live online broadcast of the British Broadcasting Corp's Chinese-language service, while fielding questions from Web users around the world.
He said that at present, the conditions do not exist for Taiwan's unification with China because of the vast differences between the two sides of the Strait.
The two sides need to set up the necessary mechanisms, normalize their exchanges, increase mutual understanding, wait for all conditions to mature and then leave it to the people on both sides to determine whether they want unification, Ma said.
He stressed that the matter should not be left simply to the leaders of Taiwan and China to decide.
The KMT chairman said his party would not rule out the possibility of discussing the unification issue with Beijing, but will not be committed to any timetable for unification with China.
There is still much room for China's improvement and development in order to narrow its gap with Taiwan.
For example, China must first become a democratic society with equitable wealth distribution for its people, and its government must respect basic civic rights, he said.
Asked about President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) recent proposal to scrap the National Unification Council and unification guidelines, Ma said Chen was probably trying to test the waters in order to see the world's reaction.
Ma said that the president could also be trying to use the unification council issue to divert the public's attention from a series of problems in his administration, including the involvement of senior government officials in corruption scandals.
Responding to Ma's remarks that the "the people on both sides" should determine whether they want unification, executive director of the Institute for National Policy Research Lo Chih-cheng (
Lo said that according to the institute's latest survey, 80 percent of respondents feel Taiwan's future should be determined solely by its 23 million people.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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