President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday paid a rare visit to the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) amid reports that the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), of which MAC Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) is a member, was upset about the Ma administration’s cross-strait policy.
While Ma said the visit was meant to thank the council for its hard work over the past two months, his visit came in the wake of the council expressing a dissenting view from that of the Presidential Office on how Beijing should refer to Taiwan’s Olympic team.
Lai has come under fire for supporting the Ma government’s series of moves to liberalize economic ties with China, which is at odds with TSU policy.
PHOTO: CNA
The TSU is most upset about Ma’s recent policy decisions on China-bound investment, which include allowing semiconductor firms to set up advanced 12-inch wafer factories in China and increasing the cap on China-bound investment to 60 percent of a firm’s net worth, from a previous maximum of 40 percent.
Ma was accompanied by Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) on his visit to the MAC. During the one-hour, closed-door meeting between Ma, Lai and the council’s 100 highest-ranking officials, Ma acknowledged their efforts and achievements, Lai told reporters afterwards.
She said Ma urged the council to seize the “historic opportunity” to take advantage of improvements in cross-strait relations to push policies conducive to the people of Taiwan.
Lai shunned a question about whether she would resign as MAC chairwoman.
“There is one thing I would like to emphasize,” she said. “The government’s cross-strait policy is based on the principle of promoting the interests of the people of Taiwan and puts the people first. That principle has been my belief since I began my political career, and this is a matter of public record.”
She denied that former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), the spiritual leader of the TSU, had pressured her to resign.
Earlier yesterday, TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) rejected speculation that he had asked Lai to resign from the MAC post, but emphasized that “it does not make sense for the TSU to endorse what she does either.”
Huang made the remarks at a press conference in response to speculation that the TSU had asked Lai to either resign or risk being stripped of her party membership.
Huang said neither Lee nor the TSU had recommended Lai to Ma, but that Ma had nonetheless asked her to join his administraion.
Huang added that since Lai became the MAC head, she had ceased taking part in TSU activities.
Meanwhile, KMT and DPP legislators continued to trade barbs over Lai’s performance.
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) urged Lai to prioritize the public’s interests over the interests of the TSU.
Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), another deputy secretary-general of the caucus, said it would be “ridiculous” if the TSU thought Lai could overthrow the KMT’s policy by becoming a member of the Cabinet.
He said it was natural for Lai to carry out the president’s ideals since she was a member of the administration.
Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), director of DPP’s Department of Culture and Information, said Lai had pledged to put a brake on the government’s cross-strait policies when she assumed the post.
“But two months have passed, and we’ve seen less of her limiting and more of her endorsing the government’s policies,” he said.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang, Rich Chang and CNA
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard