The Presidential Office yesterday rebutted former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) argument that the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) do not belong to Taiwan, saying it is an unquestionable fact that the Republic of China (ROC) holds sovereignty over the archipelago.
“Any remarks denying our sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands constitute an act of humiliating the nation and forfeiting its sovereignty. They will not be accepted by the ROC government, nor its people,” Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said.
Chen said it has been the government’s consistent stance that the Diaoyutai Islands have been an inherent part of the ROC since 1683.
“Our claims of sovereignty over the islands are based solidly on their location, geological composition, relevant historical evidence and international law, and are therefore cannot be disputed,” Chen said.
Chen was referring to Lee’s remarks in his latest book, titled Last Days: My Life’s Journey and the Roadmap of Taiwan’s Democratization, in which he wrote: “The Diaoyutai archipelago not being a part of Taiwan’s territory is an indubitable fact.”
“Those politicians who have blindly followed others and claimed the islands as belonging to Taiwan are just ignorant and lacking in common sense,” Lee wrote in the book, which was released on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday urged president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to express her stance on Lee’s claims in his book that “cross-strait relations are between two nations.”
“From the beginning of her presidential campaign to now, Tsai has failed to explain her cross-strait policies and has been evasive on issues regarding the ROC’s national identity,” KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said in a news release.
Lin said the public might have been willing to put up with Tsai’s ambiguous attitude and empty rhetoric before the elections, but as the nation’s next head of state, she is now obligated to let the public know her real thoughts.
Tsai was believed to be a champion of Lee’s “special state-to-state” theory, as she was a key figure at the National Security Council when the former president tendered the idea in 1999, Lin said.
“Now that Tsai has been elected president and the DPP is set to gain complete control over the nation, there is no longer room for Tsai’s position to remain oblique and for her to turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to the issue,” Lin said.
The president-elect should take the opportunity to assuage the public’s concerns by elucidating her cross-strait policy and stance on Taiwan’s national identity, Lin added.
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
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if the next president of that country decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said today. “We would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said during a legislative hearing. At the same time, Taiwan is paying close attention to the Central American region as a whole, in the wake of a visit there earlier this year by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Lin said. Rubio visited Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Guatemala, during which he
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