Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) denied yesterday that the government had set a timetable for unification in 2016.
“I do not have any knowledge of and have never heard of such a timetable,” Liu said in response to questions from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Ching-chih (吳清池) during the legislature’s plenary session.
Wu asked Liu if President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government had drawn up plans to seek unification with China in 2016 as Taiwan Solidarity Union Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) had implied in recent remarks.
Huang has told reporters that he believed China would refrain from raising sensitive political issues during Ma’s current term and do its best to help Ma win reelection in 2012.
Then Beijing could begin pressuring Ma after 2012 to move toward unification in 2016, which would be the final year of Ma’s second term in office, Huang said.
Liu told Wu he did not understand why Huang would make such statements.
Despite Liu’s comments, Wu urged the National Security Council (NSC) and the National Security Bureau (NSB) to investigate if such a timetable was stipulated in any confidential documents.
Liu also told Wu that the government had not drawn up any timetable for a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) with China, either.
The government’s plan to pursue a CECA with China has sparked a public uproar as activists fear the administration could compromise Taiwan’s sovereignty and move one step closer to unification.
“The Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are discussing details of the plan,” Liu said.
Liu also apologized to the public again for the rising unemployment rate, but his apology did not stop Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator William Lai (賴清德)from paralyzing the plenary session.
“I hereby apologize to you [and the public] for failing to accomplish things we promised,” Liu said.
He then lashed out at opposition lawmakers who refused to allow him to brief the legislature on Friday about the government’s special budget request for public work investment unless the premier apologized for the poor state of the economy.
“The opposition demanded to be allowed to screen the wording of my apology [before I could brief the legislature]. This was totally unreasonable. No premier would take an insult such as this,” Liu said.
Unhappy with Liu’s answer, Lai refused to leave the podium after his allotted 15-minute question-and-answer session was over.
He paralyzed the plenary session for about an hour and efforts by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to mediate were unsuccessful.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS