Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday panned Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) for comparing cross-strait relations with France and Syria.
Tsai was all smiles onstage at a rally in Yilan as she campaigned for DPP Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀), who is running for re-election.
Off the stage, Tsai turned serious when asked by journalists to comment on Lu’s comparison of cross-strait relations to the unrest in Syria and terror attacks in Paris on Friday night.
Photo: CNA
“In the past, I have always held a neutral view about Lu, but what she said this time was really inappropriate. It is very inappropriate to use a regrettable tragedy abroad as part of an election campaign. It also shows that the KMT lacks the virtue of a political party in a democratic society,” Tsai said, referring to a speech that Lu delivered on Friday at a rally to mark the inauguration of KMT legislative candidate Shen Chih-hwei’s (沈智慧) campaign headquarters in Taichung.
Lu asked supporters to “look at France, and look at Syria” and then think whether they wanted peace across the Taiwan Strait.
“If you want peace across the Taiwan Strait, then you must vote for the KMT and vote for KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫),” Lu said.
In response to questions, Tsai also said that she has also been disappointed by Chu’s actions during his visit in the US, including his criticism at the Brookings Institution in Washington of Tsai’s cross-strait policy platform, which he said was empty and unrealistic.
“I thought that Chu was visiting the US to strengthen bilateral relations between Taiwan and the US, but now it is more like he is extending his campaign to the US,” she said.
Tsai said she had expected Chu to deliver a message about the nation’s values and the shared interests of all Taiwanese to gain more support from the US for Taiwan.
However, he only took bipartisan politics and his own party’s viewpoints to the US, which was regrettable, she said.
As for Chu’s comments that the so-called “1992 consensus” is the basis for cross-strait exchanges, and that stable development of cross-strait relations might be endangered without it, Tsai said that Chu should stop “playing the threat card.”
The 1992 consensus refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means. Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted in 2006 that he had made up the term in 2000.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
RSS