Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday reiterated that her cross-strait policy is no different from that of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), a day after KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said her policy deviated from the mainstream and that the party has decided to call an extempore congress to consider a new candidate.
Speaking at the World Peace Congress held by the Chinese World and Nation Peace Association, Hung said she is “still the presidential candidate nominated by the KMT.”
Addressing the crowd, Hung said she was “alone on the stage” as the president had just left.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
She recounted her candidacy from the first day she registered for the KMT primary.
“I have felt this solitude since the day I registered for the primary, but I have not been alone or lonely, since I have many friends supporting me. Today, there are people who said it felt awkward as they do not know how to address me. It is not. I am the deputy legislative speaker of the Republic of China, and currently still the KMT presidential candidate,” Hung said.
She said that Ma “once publicly stated on television that my cross-strait policy is no different from his.”
“My ‘one China’ is the Republic of China,” she said, adding that Ma’s cross-strait policy has gained people’s trust and reflects mainstream public opinion.
While there is very little difference between her cross-strait policy and Ma’s, hers is “clearer on certain aspects,” Hung said.
She highlighted the need for a peace agreement, saying that to secure the achievements Ma has made in cross-strait relations over the past seven years, there needs to be “a breakthrough and a deepening of the [so-called] ‘1992 consensus.’”
Ma, who left yesterday’s event early, had a chance to shake hands with Hung before leaving. He did not respond to media queries about Hung’s cross-strait policy and whether he would talk her out of the race. He said he would stand by the decision made by KMT headquarters.
Separately, World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce president Jonathan Huang (黃正勝), who is also the head of a Hung supporters’ club within the association, said Hung’s comment on the “eventual unification” with China worries many Taiwanese businesspeople.
“Cross-strait relations should have been the KMT’s forte. Why has it become a problem [for the party], which has aroused the concern of many overseas Taiwanese businesspeople? Why talk about ultimate unification? There is no need to stir up a hornet’s nest,” Huang said.
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
Through analyzing fossil evidence, a research team at National Taiwan University (NTU) discovered the largest endemic bird to have lived in Taiwan, naming it Pavo miejue, or extinct peafowl (滅絕孔雀). The Mikado pheasant, which is printed on the back of the NT$1,000 bank note, was previously believed to be the biggest endemic bird to Taiwan. The research team’s findings suggest that Pavo miejue lived during the Pleistocene epoch tens of thousands of years ago. It is the first endemic extinct bird species discovered and formally named in Taiwan. The study was coauthored by NTU Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修),
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to suspend its automated Skytrain service connecting Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 starting on July 1 to facilitate connection works for the upcoming Terminal 3, the airport operator said today. Passengers and staff who need to travel between the two terminals after the suspension can instead use the Taoyuan MRT or the airport's 24-hour shuttle bus service, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. The Taoyuan MRT Airport Line directly links the two terminals, while the shuttle buses are to operate around the clock, the company added. The Skytrain provides free transportation between the airport’s two terminals for travelers and
Taiwan ranked 42nd in terms of peacefulness among 163 countries, down five places from last year, according to this year’s Global Peace Index. With an overall score of 1.751, Taiwan dropped from 37th last year, the report published by the global Institute for Economics and Peace showed. The overall score measures a country’s level of peacefulness using 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators across three domains — ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. While Taiwan ranked 42nd worldwide, it was listed in ninth place among the 19 Asian-Pacific countries in the report, after New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia,
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