The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Monday that Mongolia is not included in the nation’s territory under the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution, citing previous statements by the Ministry of the Interior.
The council made the clarification after a legislative hearing earlier in the day, during which Mainland Affairs Council Minister Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) was shown three maps and asked to point to the one showing “the territory of the Republic of China according to its existing national boundaries,” as described by the Constitution.
The three maps presented by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) were one showing Mongolia and China as one country, another showing them as two separate countries and one of just Taiwan. Lai picked the second option, but was criticized by DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) for choosing a map of the People’s Republic of China.
However, the council defended Lai’s choice by pointing to the Ministry of the Interior’s regulations on maps, which began treating Mongolia as independent after Taiwan set up a representative office there in 2002 during the former DPP administration.
Then-minister of the interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) cited the Enforcement Rules for the Act Governing Relations between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) in supporting the decision to amend the map regulations. The rules define the ROC’s “mainland” area as the region under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party.
Mongolia became an independent country in 1945 after the ROC government signed a treaty with the former Soviet Union.
However, the ROC government revoked its recognition of Mongolia’s independence after the treaty was abolished by the legislature in 1953 because of a breach of the deal by the Soviet Union.
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
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
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