The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed deep regret and dissatisfaction yesterday over the Singaporean government's opposition to President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) proposal to seek a referendum on Taiwan's bid to join the UN under the name of "Taiwan."
Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement a day earlier that Taiwan's proposal was "provocative and irresponsible," and said the referendum would only give the people of Taiwan false hope, increase tension between Taiwan and China, and reduce Taiwan's international space.
Ministry spokesman David Wang (王建業) yesterday called Singapore's statement utterly unacceptable, adding that Taiwan is a sovereign democratic country in charge of its own affairs.
The right to hold a referendum is a basic right of the people and other countries have no right to intervene, he said.
In a press release, the ministry said that Taiwan, as a sovereign state, is qualified to apply for participation in the UN, adding that the international community should support the country's UN bid.
The statement said Taiwan's admission into the UN under the name "Taiwan" would not constitute changing the national title, as Taiwan participates in APEC under the name "Chinese Taipei" and in the WTO under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu."
Neither of these cases constituted a change of the national title, it said.
Wang said that China, instead of Taiwan, should be considered the biggest threat to the status quo and regional peace, because it has targeted hundreds of missiles at Taiwan and its national defense budget continues to grow in double digits.
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
RSS