The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday criticized vice president-elect Vincent Siew’s (蕭萬長) weekend trip to the Boao Forum in China, calling it a “disgrace” for Taiwan.
“I really hope that when Taiwan and China resume their talks in the future, the way Siew was treated in Boao will not become a regular occurrence,” DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) said during a press conference yesterday morning.
Lai said that China had treated Siew like a local government head since Siew was made to sit with the chief executives of Hong Kong and Macau. Siew also had to use his “Taiwan compatriot travel document” to enter China, they said.
“All of the related documents, propaganda and the Web site for the Boao Forum listed Taiwan along with Hong Kong and Macau as parts of China. The Chinese government also took advantage of this international event to promote its ‘one China’ policy. These moves all jeopardized Taiwan’s sovereignty,” DPP deputy caucus whip Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said.
PRAISE FOR EFFORTS
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus, however, yesterday lauded Siew’s efforts, saying that he had been able to reconfirm that the so-called “1992 consensus” would be the basis of future cross-strait communication.
At a press conference held by KMT caucus acting secretary-general Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑), KMT Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) said Siew’s confirmation of the consensus during his meeting with Hu had proven that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had been wrong when he said that the consensus did not exist.
Siew had also been able to make sure that Taiwan and China would push cross-strait trade and economic cooperation on the basis of co-existence and co-prosperity, Sun said.
“The greatest accomplishment of the forum is that, as Mr Siew said, [both sides] agreed to put aside controversy and pursue win-win cross-strait relations,” Hsieh told the conference.
INTERNATIONAL VIEWS
KMT Legislator Lee Jih-chu (李紀珠) urged the public to give Siew credit because the international community had viewed Siew’s meeting with Hu positively.
She added that the KMT has the ability to carry out agreements reached during the Siew-Hu meeting after the transition of power next month.
In related developments, KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said China’s intent to invest in Ma’s “i-Taiwan 12 infrastructure projects” would not create a problem as long as the transparency of the investment is ensured.
“We should look at the issue from an economic point of view. If we only consider [cross-strait] issues from a political perspective, cross-strait relations will always be clouded,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of the DPP vowed to safeguard the city’s interests by asking the president-elect to require Chinese tourists arrive and leave the nation from Kaohsiung — a move she said would help the city benefit from the expected boom in Chinese tourism.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Taiwan’s three major international carriers are increasing booking fees, with EVA Airways having already increased the charge to US$28 per flight segment from US$25, while China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines are set to follow suit. Booking fees are charged by airlines through a global distribution system (GDS) and passed on to passengers. Carriers that apply the fees include CAL, EVA, Starlux and Tigerair Taiwan. A GDS is a computerized network operated by a company that connects airlines with travel agents and ticketing platforms, allowing reservations to be made and processed in real time. Major players include Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport. EVA Air began
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
WATCH FOR HITCHHIKERS: The CDC warned those returning home from Japan to be alert for any contagious diseases that might have come back with them People who have returned from Japan following the World Baseball Classic (WBC) games during the weekend are recommended to watch for symptoms of infectious gastroenteritis, flu and measles for two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. Flu viruses remain the most common respiratory pathogen in Taiwan in the past four weeks and the influenza B virus accounted for 55.7 percent of the tested cases, exceeding the percentage of influenza A (H3N2) infections and becoming the local dominant strain, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said at a news conference on Tuesday. There were 82,187 hospital visits for
RSS