Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), citing the telephone call between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and US president-elect Donald Trump on Dec. 2, yesterday lauded the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration’s efforts in expanding diplomacy.
Speaking at a Taiwan Association of University Professors’ luncheon in Taipei, Lee said that despite media reports suggesting incompatibilities in the foreign policies of Tsai and Trump, recent developments suggest that the DPP government has made some headway in diplomacy.
The former president said that while there was no interaction between Taiwan and the US Republican Party during the US elections, the DPP has done a good job of taking advantage of the political climate generated by the phone call to further expand Taiwan’s international space.
Taiwan must make the international community aware that “Taiwan is Taiwan, China is China,” Lee said, adding that the two are distinct nations.
“How does the incoming US president intend to handle Washington’s relations with Asia-Pacific nations? Would he withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership [TPP]? Should Japan lead the TPP in the absence of US participation?” Lee asked, adding that a decline of US dominance presents a good opportunity for the emergence of a new power.
Lee said China rose to power quickly when the US economy weakened and that given increasing political risks in East Asia, Taiwan must respond to the situation by asserting its sovereignty and seeking recognition as a nation.
“Moving [Taiwan] toward becoming a normalized nation is a serious matter. We should push for normalization and carry out constitutional reform,” Lee said, adding that it would become unavoidable in the 2020 presidential and legislative elections
Lee said a strong nation depends on three factors: strong leadership; consensus and solidarity within the government; and a blueprint for the nation’s development goals.
The government cannot chase an ideal perpetuated by the media while failing to enact realistic and effective policies, Lee said.
“The president must have higher expectations and loftier goals than the average person. The nation needs a blueprint for five to 10 years of policy,” Lee said, adding that this blueprint must incorporate the views of the government and all sections of society.
When asked about same-sex marriage demonstrations taking place yesterday, Lee said: “I do not agree with [marriage equality]. I have my beliefs as a Christian.”
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
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