Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday panned President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) over his remarks that more than half of Taiwan supports his “one China” policy.
“I really wonder which marketing research company conducted the poll that yielded the result with more than 50 percent of people supporting Ma’s ‘one China’ policy. Is it from a poll that Ma and [National Security Council] Secretary-General King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) did in private?” DPP caucus whip Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) asked during a press conference at the legislature yesterday morning. “The so-called ‘one China’ principle that Ma has followed in the past six years since he took office has encouraged China to downgrade Taiwan’s sovereignty.”
“Taking poison as medicine is the largest crisis that Taiwan faces now,” Tsai added.
He went on to say that after six years of upholding the “one China” principle, China has not shown any friendliness to Taiwan; instead, this year, as the host of APEC meetings, China did not send an envoy to deliver the invitation to Ma in person, and addresses Ma as “the Honorable Mr Ma Ying-jeou.”
“Besides, with the ‘one China’ principle, we have been cutting our diplomacy and national defense budgets, threatening national security and sovereignty,” Tsai said.
DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) agreed, saying that the US has doubts about weapons sales to Taiwan “because it’s worried that China will get its hands on its weapons technologies through Taiwan.”
DPP spokesperson Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) accused the president of seeing only what he wants to see in opinion polls.
“In past years, opinion polls by the Mainland Affairs Council and the National Chengchi University have shown growth in support for independence and a decline of support for cross-strait unification, with the majority of the people preferring the ‘status quo,’” Huang said. “This actually shows that people are growing anxious about Ma’s China-leaning tendency.”
In addition, Huang said that past opinion polls have also shown that most people agree that Taiwan and China are two different countries, but that Ma has been saying that the two sides of Taiwan Strait are not in a state-to-state relationship.
The DPP figures were responding to an exclusive interview with Ma by German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur, which said that “citing opinion polls conducted by the government, Ma said that more than 80 percent of people surveyed support the ‘status quo’ for the past 20 years and his ‘one China’ principle receives more than 50 percent support.”
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Taiwan’s three major international carriers are increasing booking fees, with EVA Airways having already increased the charge to US$28 per flight segment from US$25, while China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines are set to follow suit. Booking fees are charged by airlines through a global distribution system (GDS) and passed on to passengers. Carriers that apply the fees include CAL, EVA, Starlux and Tigerair Taiwan. A GDS is a computerized network operated by a company that connects airlines with travel agents and ticketing platforms, allowing reservations to be made and processed in real time. Major players include Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport. EVA Air began
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
When Paraguayan opposition lawmaker Leidy Galeano returned from an all-expenses-paid tour of six Chinese cities late last year, she was convinced Paraguay risked missing out on major economic gains by sticking with longtime ally Taipei over Beijing — a message that participants on the trip heard repeatedly from Chinese officials. “Everything I saw there, I wanted for my country,” said Galeano, a member of the newly-formed Yo Creo party whose senior figures have spoken favorably about China. This trip and others like it — which people familiar with the visits said were at the invitation of the Chinese consulate in Sao Paulo
RSS