Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said that the party has failed to make substantial progress in its relationship with Beijing and must make changes to its China policy as soon as possible.
In an interview with the Chinese-language China Times published yesterday, Hsieh spoke about what he called the DPP’s failed cross-strait policy that appears to have depreciated DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) efforts to see the party progress.
The DPP cannot afford to sit and do nothing about its China policy, Hseih said, citing an unreleased survey conducted by the party following its loss in the 2012 presidential election in which 65 percent of respondents found the DPP’s ability to manage cross-strait economic exchanges questionable.
“If the DPP wants to return to power, it must change its China policy as soon as possible,” Hsieh was quoted as saying.
The former premier said he was displeased with the DPP’s review of and recommendations for its China policy last week, in which it pledged to “seek the public’s consensus” on cross-strait issues.
Hseih said that vow was “a beautiful shot that failed to score.”
No one in the party tabled any initiative to complement or challenge his proposal for “two sides, two constitutions,” Hsieh was quoted as saying, arguing that his initiative was the only such DPP proposal accepted by the Taiwanese public, Beijing and Washington.
When asked about critics who had said his initiative was “pro-Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT],” Hsieh said that if the DPP intended to seek the maximum consensus among Taiwanese, “it is impossible not to include the KMT’s view.”
The DPP’s approach of “alienating anything related to China” and its efforts to oppose everything from the KMT had produced no positive results, he added.
DPP whip Ker Chien-Ming’s proposal to freeze the DPP’s Taiwan independence clause should be discussed and included as a policy option, Hsieh said.
In related news, the Taiwan Affairs Office yesterday said that the DPP would be “walking toward a dead end if it insisted on independence, regardless of which mask it puts on the policy.”
Responding to the remarks, DPP Department of China Affairs Director Honigmann Hong (洪財隆) said that the party’s China policy reflected the core values of the mainstream Taiwanese public, responded to societal views across the Taiwan Strait and showed the party’s confidence and pragmatism toward bilateral engagement.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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