Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to reverse his “one country, two areas” (一國兩區) proposal, which she referred to as a “policy that would cause instability and misery to the country.”
The proposal, brought up by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) in his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in Beijing on Thursday last week, is dangerous, Tsai said in a press release.
“It is dangerous because the KMT has not been able to explain the difference between the Republic of China [ROC] and the People’s Republic of China [PRC], but it recognizes the ‘one China’ principle,” she said.
It would be difficult for the international community not to assume that Taiwan has accepted that it is part of China, which for most countries is represented by the PRC, she said.
Tsai accused Ma of “bullying” and “ambushing” opposition parties and the public by announcing major policies and making decisions on the status of the country in private.
While Ma and his party reiterated that the proposal is in line with the Constitution and 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), Tsai said the latter is a domestic law that should not be used to interpret Taiwan’s political status.
“A domestic law is one thing, making concessions on Beijing’s ‘one China’ principle is another,” Tsai said, adding that even if Ma intends to make concessions, he would have to reach consensus with the opposition parties.
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
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Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard