The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said the “one country, two areas (一國兩區)” rhetoric about handling cross-strait relations was in line with the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution, dismissing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) accusations that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had jeopardized Taiwan’s sovereignty.
The “one country, two areas” concept is consistent with Ma’s “three noes” policy under the structure of the ROC Constitution, and the term “one country” refers to the ROC, KMT spokesman Yin Wei (殷瑋) said yesterday.
“The ‘one country, two areas’ concept highlights the sovereignty of the ROC. The country’s sovereignty was confirmed more than 20 years ago in legislation and constitutional amendments,” he said, adding that the definition had not changed under the administrations of former presidents Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Yin shrugged off a DPP demand that Ma and the KMT explain why they unilaterally made such a crucial decision about Taiwan’s status without public discussion, saying that the DPP had also established its own China policies under the same constitutional structure.
“The Presidential Office has clearly explained that ‘one -country’ means the ‘ROC,’ and under the same standards, shouldn’t the DPP ask former chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to explain the DPP’s China policy, too?” Yin asked.
Ma, when presiding over the KMT’s Central Standing Committee yesterday in his capacity as KMT chairman, challenged the DPP and Tsai over their China policy, saying the DPP had no leg to stand on in criticizing the “one country, two areas” concept.
Saying that Tsai, a former Mainland Affairs Council minister, had in the past proposed a “one country, four areas” concept for cross-strait relations and China’s relations with Hong Kong and -Macao, Ma added: “As an advocate of ‘one country, four areas,’ Tsai should be the last person to think that the ‘one country, two areas’ proposal is dangerous.”
Late yesterday, Tsai issued a statement in response, saying Ma’s remarks “stealthily substituted one thing for another” and was an attempt to obscure the focus and look for excuses.
Tsai said the “one country, four areas” concept was intended to explain domestic laws governing interaction among people from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Macao. Nowhere did it pertain to cross-strait relations, she said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai