The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday defended President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) latest remarks on cross-strait relations, and criticized former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for describing the Republic of China (ROC) as a government-in-exile three years ago.
The KMT said Ma’s comments that cross-strait ties are not international relations were made in accordance with the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例), which defined the two sides of the Taiwan Strait as the “Taiwan” region and “the mainland China” region.
“President Ma’s remarks are consistent with the notion in the Constitution and the act. If the DPP did not agree with the Constitution, why did Tsai not oppose the notion when she was serving as the chairperson of the Mainland Affairs Council?” KMT Culture and Communication Committee director Fan Chiang Tai-chi (范姜泰基) said.
Ma said in his Double Ten National Day speech that cross-strait ties are not international relations, sparking concerns about the remark’s impact on Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Opposition camp leaders, including Tsai and DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), accused Ma of taking a step toward unification with China without seeking public consensus on the issue.
Fan Chiang criticized Tsai for saying three years ago that the ROC government was a government-in-exile, saying that such a statement belittled the national dignity.
Tsai suggested in a speech at a book launch on May 25, 2010, that from Taiwan’s perspective, the ROC government was a Chinese authoritarian government that had dominated Taiwanese politics for the past six decades. However, she also said that in the past few decades, with the rise of Taiwan’s democracy movement and replacement of Chinese interests with Taiwanese interests, the ROC government had become both legitimate and sovereign.
Meanwhile, Ma, who also doubles as the KMT chairman, and Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) visited Chiayi to meet with local party members, seeking to strengthen party unity amid recent political strife between Ma and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).
In response to party members urging Ma to reconcile with Wang, he said that it is a president’s duty to defend the judicial system under his administration. He also reiterated that the KMT continued to encourage Wang to appeal to the party’s Integrity Committee to retain his party membership.
Ma’s visit to Chiayi met with a protest led by local pan-green politicians.
They shouted: “Step down, Ma Ying-jeou,” and threw shoes as Ma’s motorcade entered the venue, but the police stopped the protesters from getting close.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all