The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would be prepared to seek active engagement with China, but would not change its policies to achieve that goal if he were elected party chairperson next month, former DPP chairperson Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) said yesterday.
Hsu, one of five candidates running in the May 27 DPP chairperson election, focused on his China policy during a meeting with some of the party’s younger members yesterday.
“I would support the DPP’s engagement with Beijing and do not rule out visiting China myself, but I would not change our policies in order to make such a trip happen,” said the 70-year-old, who analysts consider the most moderate of the candidates in terms of China policy.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Hsu said that he did not think it was necessary to rescind the Taiwanese independence clause in the party charter for engagement with Beijing, because “we can not deny our own history.”
“There is no such thing as abandoning Taiwanese independence. As Taiwan is now an independent country, how would we give it up? That’s simply impossible,” Hsu said, adding that he had always advocated a policy that “guarantees the political status quo before boldly opening up.”
However, the Taiwanese independence clause in the DPP charter could be replaced with a new resolution, he said.
Hsu said that former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) proposed China policy of “Taiwan is the Republic of China [ROC] and the ROC is Taiwan” would be a good place to start and could be drafted into an official document, to highlight the party’s recognition of the ROC political system.
However, Hsu said he favored the “constitutional consensus” advocated by former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) over Tsai’s “Taiwan consensus,” because consensus on a constitution would incorporate a broader swathe of public opinion and therefore hopefully end internal division over Taiwanese identity.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book