Taiwan’s diplomacy is in jeopardy under President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) advocacy of a “diplomatic truce,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, adding that the idea is tantamount to a unilateral disarmament of Taiwan.
“Taiwan’s isolation internationally is a result of China’s oppression. Ma, as the nation’s leader, should find a way to safeguard Taiwan’s international status and highlight the unreasonableness of China’s suppression,” Tsai said in a speech delivered at a forum on “Taiwan’s Security Policy under the New Administration” hosted by the Institute for Taiwan Defense and Strategic Studies.
“But instead, the new government is trying to negotiate with the country’s persecutor and to offer: ‘I won’t struggle. Don’t hit me,’” she said, referring to the modus vivendi approach put forth by Ma for dealing with China.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
Tsai said that although the new government has only been in operation for less than 100 days, its national security policy is causing “worry, distrust and unease” among the people and is leading Taiwan toward a “dangerous state.”
She accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government of being “narrow-minded” by believing that all the problems currently faced by Taiwan will be solved as long as relations with China improve.
As such a security policy must rely on Beijing’s goodwill in order to be successful, the government has already started making various concessions before China has even offered its terms and conditions, she said.
Besides the “diplomatic truce,” Tsai also described the KMT administration’s liberalization policy toward cross-strait economic and trade activities as “reckless.”
Tsai expressed displeasure at a recent statement by Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) that “Taiwan stands great chances of winning medals as one of the home teams,” saying that the statement demonstrates China’s insincerity toward Taiwan.
Tung Chen-yuan (童振源), a professor on China’s political economy at National Chengchi University, and a panelist at the forum told the audience that Ma’s ambiguous approach on the issue of sovereignty is weakening the country’s national identity.
Citing examples, Tung said that while Ma insisted on the existence of the so-called “1992 consensus” — which says both sides of the Strait recognize there is only one China, but agree to differ on its definition — government and KMT officials never asked or challenged Chinese officials to state China’s view on its definition of “one China with different interpretation.”
Ma’s previous remarks saying that he would not mind if China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) addresses him as “Mr Ma” if he visits Taiwan later this year was another example of Ma not upholding Taiwan’s sovereignty, Tung said.
In addition, he said, Ma also advocates using the name “Chinese Taipei” for Taiwan’s bid to join various international organizations. Another panelist, June Dreyer, a professor of political science at the University of Miami, said the examples cited by Tung suggested Taiwan is weakening its own sovereignty.
“We can not see and touch sovereignty, but we can exercise sovereignty. If we do not exercise sovereignty, we are gradually losing it,” she said, adding that it seems that Ma has been showing goodwill to China, but China does not show any goodwill in return.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all