The “one country, two areas” idea touted by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) may have been a political move that came directly from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), rather than wider government circles, aimed at expressing gratitude for alleged help from China during the Jan. 14 elections, the Taiwan Thinktank said yesterday.
According to an analysis written by one of the think tank’s directors, Lai I-chung (賴怡忠), Mainland Affairs Council Minister Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) did not have prior knowledge of the comment made by Wu during his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) on March 22. Furthermore, National Security Bureau (NSB) director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) did not approve of the comment, indicating that it may not have been a part of the government’s plans, the paper said.
Instead, the analysis said it may have been a political move directly from Ma to repay Beijing for its alleged “favor” of helping the KMT and Ma win re-election in the Jan. 14 elections, adding that the timing of the proposal also drew attention from the controversial US beef issue.
The “one country, two areas” concept is closer to the “one China” framework than the “one China with different interpretations,” and the fact that Taiwan brought it up on its own initiative means that the country might lose all its leverage in future political negotiations and would be forced to go down the path of “ultimate unification,” the think tank said.
The suggestion that the government “actively wants negotiations” differs hugely from the expectations of most of the public and the KMT is obliged to explain itself to Taiwanese, it said.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and other political parties should also bring up the issue and debate it with the KMT, it said.
Translated by Jake Chung, 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