In retaliation for China's successful scheme to sever diplomatic ties between Chad and Taiwan, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday said that they will push a proposal to block the proposed visit to Taiwan of the director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office Chen Yunlin (
DPP legislators Chuang Ho-tzu (莊和子), Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) and Hsueh Ling (薛凌) yesterday said that they would jointly propose a motion to request that the government deny Chen permission to visit Taiwan unless China recognizes Taiwan as a country with independent sovereignty.
"The people of Taiwan should understand China's ambition [to oppress Taiwan] in this incident. Unless China abolishes its `Anti-Secession Law,' we think that granting a visit to Taiwan to a high-ranking Chinese official who does not recognize Taiwan's independence would be an acknowledgement of that law and act of surrendering to China," Chai said yesterday.
Chai said that they would collect more lawmakers' signatures to facilitate their proposal, which will also request that the Executive Yuan suspend any policies to open up cross-strait exchanges.
DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (
"It is an insult to Premier Su and it is quite obvious that China is targeting him," Hsiao said yesterday. "But it is fortunate that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs obtained the information of the break-off in advance, otherwise the aftermath of Premier Su's visit to Chad would be unimaginable."
DPP caucus whip Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) yesterday said that China had been resorting to every conceivable means to squeeze Taiwan's international space and that Chad's breaking ties with Taiwan was just the latest example of Beijing's malicious repression of Taiwan.
Yeh urged international society not to turn a blind eye to China's bullying.
"While many pan-blue camp leaders and lawmakers swarm to China and make pilgrimages to Beijing, Chinese authorities never give up their oppression of Taiwan. I urge all the Taiwanese people to clearly see China's true colors through this incident," Yeh said.
Meanwhile, DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun yesterday denounced China's manipulation of Taiwan's ties with Chad, and said that Beijing's actions should be a wake-up call to people who insist on leaning toward China.
Yu reacted to the abrupt diplomatic switch through DPP spokesman Tsai Huang-liang (
Yu also criticized Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
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