Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) yesterday accused former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) office of “setting up [KMT Chairwoman] Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱)” by spreading a rumor that she thumbed her nose at Ma.
Tsai yesterday denied a news report saying KMT Vice Chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) claimed Hung would not mention “one China, different interpretations,” but rather focus on the KMT’s recently passed policy platform that aims to “further” the so-called “1992 consensus” and on signing a peace agreement with Beijing during her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Tuesday next week.
Tsai quoted Chan as saying that he has not taken part in writing the speech for Hung’s meeting with Xi and has not spoken to the media regarding what Hung would say during the meeting.
The Chinese-language China Times reported that Ma’s office released a statement on Thursday, saying that the “1992 consensus” and “one China, different interpretations” are not only a cross-strait consensus, but also a “Taiwanese consensus,” in response to Chan’s remarks.
Tsai said he wondered why the falsified remarks were put in the same piece with the statement from Ma’s office, adding that he suspects that the untrue remarks said to be Chan’s “were actually spread by Ma’s office.”
Tsai called on the office to refrain from opening unnecessary battlegrounds and be more discreet.
“I hope that Ma could keep an eye on his office personnel and restrict them from sending groundless information to the media,” he said.
Tsai also commented on media reports, which he said were based on information provided by Ma’s office alleging that Hung deliberately put on makeup when Ma was talking about his approach to the “1992 consensus” during a dinner on Monday night.
Tsai said Hung was simply putting on lipstick because she was about to leave the gathering and meet the media outside, and Ma’s office intentionally interpreted the move as a show of disrespect to Ma, in a bid to “try to set Hung up.”
Ma’s office released another statement yesterday afternoon saying that the statement issued on Thursday was in response to the “baseless allegation that Ma did not bring up ‘one China, different interpretations’ during his meeting with Xi in November last year.”
Denying that the statement had anything to do with the China Times report Tsai referred to, the office asked Tsai to “stop making unsubstantiated accusations.”
The row between Tsai and Ma’s office began after a meeting between Ma and KMT leadership, including Hung, on Monday night.
Ma allegedly urged KMT members to repeat the whole phrase as often as possible, since it would be okay if he did not mention “one China, different interpretations” when referring to the “1992 consensus,” but it would be a problem for “someone” to simply refer to the consensus without bringing up ‘one China, different interpretations.’”
It was understood that Ma was implicitly disapproving of the “one China, same interpretation” framework endorsed by Hung.
Tsai has since then publicly taking issue with Ma’s office, saying it is not up to Ma to decide what the KMT’s policy should be and calling the office an “agency without legal foundation.”
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
RSS