Both the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday vowed to continue pushing for their versions of a UN referendum despite discouraging remarks by the US on Thursday denying Taiwanese statehood.
Party heavyweights from the two parties joined in their condemnation of US senior director for East Asian affairs at the National Security Council Dennis Wilder's statement that Taiwan is "not a state."
"Taiwan is definitely a nation. If over 60 percent of the people support Taiwanese independence in the referendum, the world will recognize Taiwan. Only the referendum can save the country," Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday after attending a party event in Taipei.
PHOTO: LIAO YAO-TUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Yu said the DPP's UN referendum bid to join the UN under the name "Taiwan" was in preparation for the party's intention to hold a referendum on Taiwanese independence. He then lashed out at the US for being an "irresponsible country" that promotes democracy and freedom but opposes Taiwan's right to hold referendums.
In response to the US' opposition to the UN referendum bid, KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (
"The KMT will push for its version of the UN referendum bid regardless of US and Chinese pressure. Even if the DPP withdraws its version, the KMT will continue in its efforts," KMT spokesman Su Jun-pin (
KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday blamed the strong US reaction on the DPP's attempt to push for the bid to enter the UN under the name "Taiwan," arguing that it was still possible for the country to be recognized in the international community under the name "Republic of China (ROC).
"The US treats the ROC as a foreign government in the Taiwan Relation Act (
Ma's remarks drew harsh criticism from the DPP's Frank Hsieh (
"Ma has previously said that Taiwan has political sovereignty. His remarks highlight his lack of faith in himself and the country," Hsieh said.
"Taiwan has its own judicial system, budget, army and legislature, and it elects its own president. Of course it is a nation," he said.
The Government Information Office (GIO), meanwhile, launched a Web site promoting the nation's UN bid yesterday.
"We welcome everybody who cares about this issue to visit the Web site and show their support," Cabinet spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) said. "The site offers a little game and whoever plays it the most will win a gift from the GIO after the activity concludes on Oct. 1."
Among the prizes are an iPod, two iPod nanos, three New York Yankee pitcher Wang Chien-min (
In addition to online games, visitors to www.taiwanunme.tw/ch can access all related documents, such as the history, news articles and analysis concerning Taiwan's UN bid over the years.
Shieh said the government has spent NT$20 million (US$610,000) abroad promoting the UN bid and NT$830,000 domestically.
"We have a NT$30 million budget for this year and we will make every penny count," Shieh said.
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS