The arrival of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in Manila yesterday has seemingly ignited an underlying tussle between the pro-independence and pro-unification forces in the local Chinese-speaking expatriate community.
The DPP leader was warmly greeted by about 20 Taiwanese expatriates at Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Their shouts of tong-suan (凍蒜, meaning “get elected” in Hoklo, also known as Taiwanese) drew curious glances from passersby at the airport.
Taiwanese Representative to the Philippines Donald Lee (李傳通) also welcomed Tsai at the airport.
Photo: CNA
Accompanied by DPP legislators Yu Tien (余天) and Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) former Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission minister Chang Fu-mei (張富美) and DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), Tsai Iing-wen chatted with the well-wishers and received a courtesy custom clearance before being whisked away without taking any questions from the media.
Some Chinese groups in the Philippines, meanwhile, have run ads in local Chinese-language newspapers in recent days that call Tsai Ing-wen “a Taiwan independence activist” and said they did not welcome her visit.
To ensure security, Taiwanese businesspeople in the Philippines Manila applied for nine police officers to safeguard the DPP chairperson and her delegation during their three-day visit.
Tsai Ing-wen’s visit is mainly to attend the launch of the Philippine chapter of overseas Taiwanese businesspeople who support her presidential bid.
She will also attend the 57th Congress of the Liberal International — a London-based federation of liberal and democratic political parties around the world — in Metro Manila today, during which she will deliver a 10-minute speech on human rights and trade and meet with party leaders from other countries.
She will also attend a fundraising dinner for her campaign as the standard bearer of the party in January’s presidential election.
Organizers of the fundraiser have already collected 6.5 million pesos (US$148,640).
Tsai is expected to return to Taiwan tomorrow afternoon.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
The Republic of China Army Command yesterday relieved Kinmen Defense Battalion commander after authorities indicted the officer on charges connected to using methamphetamine. The Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday detained Colonel He (何) after the Coast Guard linked him to drug shipments and proceeded to charge him yesterday for using and possessing crystal meth. The man was released on a NT$50,000 bail and banned from leaving Kinmen, the office said. Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Chen Chien-yi (陳建義) told a news conference yesterday that He has been removed and another officer is taking over the unit as the acting commander. The military
RSS