President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should explain to the public his view of the relationship between Taiwan and China after former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) made a controversial “one country, two areas” proposal in Bejing, former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
“It was a dangerous statement and if President Ma accepts that one country represents the ROC [Republic of China], then he needs to explain the difference between the ROC and the PRC [People’s Republic of China], and the relationship between them,” Tsai said on the sidelines of a digital teleconference, during which she talked with Chinese dissident Wang Dan (王丹).
Ma has been deliberately vague in his interpretation of cross-strait relations, she said, adding that he also needed to explain if the “one country, two areas” initiative was Wu’s own proposal.
Meanwhile, former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) posted a Facebook message yesterday, saying that although the amended ROC Constitution did contain the terms “Mainland area and Taiwan area,” those terms delineated a special arrangement relating specifically to cross-strait exchanges.
“It was not a statement with sovereignty-related implications. The Constitution should be interpreted in a way that benefits people most,” Hsieh wrote.
DPP Legislator Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) echoed Hsieh’s view, saying that the Constitutional amendment was “only an arrangement of expedience.”
Ma should not have allowed Wu to make such a statement, Lee said, because he pledged during his re-election campaign that he would discuss major national and social issues with opposition leaders after the election.
Although Ma has reiterated that Taiwan’s future should be determined by the 23 million Taiwanese, DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said that he was now making unilateral decisions and turning his back on the people.
Former DPP legislator Kuo Cheng-liang (郭正亮) said that he thought the DPP had shot itself in the foot with its opposition to the “two areas” proposal.
During the DPP’s eight years in power, he said, it had neither amended the Constitution and scrapped the Act Governing Relations Between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) nor changed the existing cross-strait exchange platform between the Mainland Affairs Council and China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
“Wasn’t that a tacit continuation and recognition of ‘one country, two areas?’” Kuo said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai