The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will not be too harsh on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) if the much-anticipated weekend direct charter flight services across the Taiwan Strait do not start on July 4 as president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has promised, a DPP legislative caucus whip said yesterday.
Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) urged the KMT, which will take the reins of government on May 20, to “grow up” and “learn something,” saying that if the KMT had any sense, it would not make promises too readily on the matter.
Saying that cross-strait issues are not controlled solely by Taiwan, Yeh said that the KMT would gradually become aware that the DPP has done its best to improve cross-strait relations.
“The KMT will soon realize that it will also face difficulties when dealing with China,” Yeh said.
Launching direct cross-strait charter flights in July was one of Ma’s campaign promises.
A source from the KMT said bilateral talks on the technical details surrounding the charter flights have already been completed, but China held sway on the sensitive political aspects of the talks.
Since Ma named Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛), a former lawmaker of the pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union, as head of the Mainland Affairs Council, Beijing’s leaders have been watching Ma’s China policy line closely, the source said.
A major point of evaluation for China will be Ma’s inaugural speech, he said, adding that Ma was expected to expound on his vision for China policy and action guidelines in the address.
Aside from the inaugural speech, another litmus test for the prospects of cross-strait ties will be whether KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) would be able to visit China before July as scheduled.
If he managed to do so, it would be a good sign that cross-strait charter flights could start by July 4, the source said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS