Pan-green politicians yesterday blasted Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for saying that he would trade a pledge of "no independence" for Taiwan if Beijing were to forswear the use of arms against the country.
In an interview with Bloomberg last Thursday that was published on the agency's Web site on Monday, Ma said that if the KMT won the 2008 presidential election, it would negotiate a peace agreement with China by 2012, promising that Taiwan would not pursue independence in exchange for Beijing promising "no use of arms" against Taiwan.
Ma also said that the KMT, if it were to win the presidential election, would make major changes to cross-strait policies, such as increasing funding for Taiwanese companies which would like to invest in China or allowing Chinese companies to invest in Taiwan to establish stronger business partnerships with China.
Ma told Bloomberg that China represented not only a threat, but also an opportunity to Taiwan, and that the KMT would like to maximize the opportunity while minimizing the threat.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday mocked Ma's comments on "peace talks," saying that Ma sounded like he was actually campaigning to become the "Taiwanese chief executive," instead of the nation's next president.
"If he [Ma] negotiates with China, he will be downgrading himself even if he wins the presidential election in 2008. He will be the `Taiwanese chief executive' instead of the president," Su said when reporters approached him for comment on Ma's interview.
Taiwan is definitely an independent country, Su said.
"If there is any negotiation with China, it will be between two independent countries," he said, adding that Taiwan should not abandon its own policies just because "gang members arrive at your front door and threaten you with weapons."
"No matter who wins the presidential election, this person is not supposed to give up our own bottom line to negotiate with China. Otherwise, the Taiwanese president will become a `Taiwanese chief executive.' We cannot let someone like this become our president," Su said.
Ma yesterday said that Taiwan was not a special administrative area of China and asked how there could be a chief executive.
"Su was just showing his ignorance about cross-strait affairs," he said.
Ma added that peace talks would only become possible when China has withdrawn all the missiles it has aimed at Taiwan.
Saying that it is the KMT's belief that the Republic of China has always been an independent country, Ma said he had told Bloomberg that "any negotiation with China needs to operate under the framework of the [so-called] 1992 Consensus."
In a telephone interview with the Taipei Times yesterday, deputy director of the Democratic Progressive Party's culture and information department Chou Yung-hong (周永鴻) said Ma was trying to sell out the sovereignty of the nation by exchanging Taiwan's right to independence for peace with China.
Whether the country will declare independence is the choice of the Taiwanese people, not a means to "please China," Chou said, adding that Ma could not decide the future of Taiwan on his own.
Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator David Huang (黃適卓) told a press conference yesterday that Ma was trying to bargain over Taiwan's future "with China, the demon."
Under such a treaty, Taiwan would be downgraded to a special administrative region like Hong Kong, Huang said.
In doing so, Ma would sacrifice the rights and soul of Taiwanese people, Huang added.
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang and CNA
also see story:
Editorial: Ma offers no peaceful alternative
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
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
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