Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday discussions within his party, as well as policies concerning the rise of China, would not only be based on election considerations and domestic political concerns, but would also to take into account the changing military situation in the Asia-Pacific region and would seek dialogue with the US and Japan so as to position Taiwan as a pivotal center in the Asia-Pacific security network.
Su made the remarks in a speech at an international symposium on regional security hosted by the Taiwan National Security Association and Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association in Japan.
Su said the nationalization of three of the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) by Japan has increased tensions and led to instability.
While he called on the Taiwan government to negotiate in earnest with Japan on this issue, he added: “At the same time, China has unilaterally incorporated the Taiwan Strait as lying within its offshore marine territory, but we did not see President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government voicing a strong protest in that regard.”
“This has deepened the impression of ‘Taiwan belonging to China’ within the international community,” he added.
Su said that the DPP’s policy on China is based on positions that have the interests of Taiwan as a nation as its priority, ensures peaceful interactions across the Taiwan Strait and aims to promote regional stability.
“We are facing an unstable situation due to uncertainties over China’s changing leadership and the social unrest which are inherent in China’s socio-economic underclass, therefore Taiwan and our neighboring countries must use diplomacy, dialogue and peaceful means to resolve possible conflicts,” he said.
“As the US has returned to Asia with enhanced security arrangements, Taiwan is meanwhile compromising this regional security structure due to Ma’s government policy being overly pro-China,” he said.
Su added that recent tensions in the South China Sea are not just sudden happenings, but are very much related to China’s naval ambitions to break through the containment of the First Island Chain of the Asia-Pacific region and even to breach the Second Island Chain.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching