The Taiwan Independence Action Party (TIAP) yesterday announced that it was postponing its plans to officially form a political party and would instead focus its efforts to help the New Power Party (NPP), with the hope that the new party would include “Taiwan” in its official name.
The TIAP — formed by former Presidential Office advisers Peng Ming-min (彭明敏) and Wu Li-pei (吳澧培), former Presidential Office secretary-general Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟), Reverend Kao Chun-ming (高俊明) of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and political commentator Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒) — announced the decision at a news conference in Taipei yesterday, aiming to help pan-green factions achieve a majority in the Legislative Yuan.
The NPP is a new player on the scene, Chin said, and combining the older generation of pro-Taiwanese independence politicians with the “naturally independent” new generation will bring about a change to Taiwan’s future.
The term “natural independence,” or “naturally independent,” was coined by former Democratic Progressive Party chairperson and veteran activist Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) in his book The Natural Independence of the Younger Generation (年輕世代的自然獨), in which he said that as opposed to the older generations who formed their ideas of independence after an intellectual struggle against the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) brainwashing they grew up with, the younger generation has grown up in a society in which Taiwanese independence is a mainstream ideal, which makes them “naturally independent.”
Combining forces in Taiwanese politics will ensure the continuation of the pro-Taiwan independence movement, Chin said, adding that he hopes the NPP will add the creation of a Taiwanese constitution to its charter and include “Taiwan” in the party’s official name.
Speaking on behalf of Peng and Wu, Taiwan Friends Association president Huang Kun-hu (黃崑虎) said that he was very excited when he heard the news and felt a renewed hope for Taiwan.
Cooperation between the NPP and other organizations is the culmination of decades of efforts by Taiwanese against “the alien regime” (外來政權) of the KMT, Huang said.
NPP acting president Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that a “normal” nation and promoting the creation of a new constitution are the guiding missions of the NPP.
The party has heard and understood the senior pro-independence campaigners’ expectations, Huang said.
Huang said he recognized the gesture of good will from the TIAP, but said the party’s name is an issue that affects all NPP members and would have to be voted on at the party’s meeting at the end of the month.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods