The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it would not back down from using Zhonghua Taibei (中華台北) as the Chinese translation for “Chinese Taipei” as Taiwan’s membership designation in APEC.
The ministry made the remarks in response to China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, which told a press conference on Wednesday that it would use Zhongguo Taibei (中國台北) as the Chinese translation when referring to Taiwan’s APEC membership.
That designation literally means “China Taipei.”
MOFA Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said yesterday that in 1991 when APEC was discussing the membership titles for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, it was agreed in a memorandum of understanding written in English that Taiwan would be known as “Chinese Taipei.”
However, to date, there has been no official Chinese translation of the term.
“If there has to be a Chinese translation, the ministry will insist on using Zhonghua Taibei,” Chen said.
Meanwhile, Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Liu Teh-hsun (劉德勳) yesterday urged Beijing to use the official title to refer to the country at APEC.
“Zhongguo Taibei is not our official title,” he said.
“It will be more respectful to the people of the Taiwan region if they use our official title at the organization,” he said.
Liu said that for the sake of improving cross-strait relations, people in Taiwan would prefer to see both sides use the official title because only by doing so would cross-strait relations develop in a positive direction.
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