A visiting former UN commission head said Taiwan should be allowed to take part in international organizations for the sake of peace and prosperity in East Asia.
“Taiwan should be given the opportunity to relate to other members in international agencies,” if the world expects lasting peace in the region, Lee Samuel, former secretary-general of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, said in an interview with the Central News Agency on Saturday.
With the Taiwan Strait long considered a flashpoint in the region, the issue has to be dealt with if countries in the region intend to establish a peaceful grouping similar to the EU, he said.
He said, however, that “peace is more important” than any potential agreement on Taiwan’s status between the two sides of the Strait. The most important thing is for divided countries to develop a way to coexist with each other through dialogue and cooperation, he said.
Citing the Korean experience, he said that any efforts to find solutions through peaceful means should be recognized as positive and that governments in disputes have to venture, once there is a chance of securing peaceful results.
However, the process of external negotiations should be based on internal consensus obtained by means of adequate communication, he said, or “peaceful talks with an outside enemy can also produce inside enemies.”
In the 1960s, Lee was exiled from South Korea because of his participation in the April Student Revolution, which eventually brought down then-president Syngman Rhee. When Lee returned to his homeland some 20 years later, he became involved in civil movements and advocated unification of the Koreas.
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