Taiwan's values must not be compromised even if direct transport, trade and postal services are opened with China, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
Hsieh, who was on a two-day tour of Penghu, said the establishment of the so-called "three direct links" between Taiwan and China must be based on the values that the nation has long pursued, although such opening would be mutually beneficial.
Stating that Taiwan has to insist on its own principles and must not give its way to China's term and conditions when it comes to the issue of building direct links, Hsieh said that "happiness and the future are in our hands" and that "Taiwan must lead the way in bilateral talks."
In response to talks made a day earlier in Kinmen by the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
"It is very inappropriate for Ma to voice this idea now and show his lack of experience," Hsieh said.
The "small three links" refer to direct shipping services maintained between Taiwan's outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu with the three Chinese ports of Xiamen, Mawei and Quanzgou in Fujian Province.
Meanwhile, the government yesterday invited investors to join its efforts to develop these islands by taking advantage of the state-run Outlying Islet Construction Fund, officials of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said.
The fund has a budget of NT$350 million (US$10.56 million) for proposed investments on the outlying islands this year, with local operators of holiday villas and hotels welcome to bid for funding, the CEPD said.
Investors can also avail of the government's preferential low-interest loans for outlying island investment, the CEPD said.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a