Taiwan’s future lies in China, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said yesterday, while reiterating that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) are “not two countries.”
Hung made the remarks in a speech at Ming Chuan University in Taipei, where she talked about her life and views on “the nation and the world.”
She told her young audience not to impose restrictions in their life, work hard whatever job they are in and seek to create their own opportunities.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
She also warned them against being captivated by power and losing themselves when in power.
During the question-and-answer session, several Chinese students expressed their affection for Hung and asked her about issues ranging from cross-strait relations to the KMT’s prospects.
When a Chinese student complimented Hung for “promoting unification,” Hung jokingly said: “Don’t you try to get me framed (你不要害死我),” but then added that while many have tried to label her as “red,” she said she is “not afraid.”
Few people “really understand the [ROC] Constitution, the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) and the ‘1992 consensus’; if they do, they would know how cross-strait policy should be developed,” she added.
While praising former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for maintaining the “status quo” during his eight years in office based on “mutual non-recognition of sovereignty,” “mutual non-denial of governing power,” and the promise of “no unification, no independence and no use of force,” Hung said it is not possible for Taiwan not to move forward forever.
“The reality is [Beijing] believes its sovereignty claim covers Taiwan, and Taiwan vice versa, so the sovereignty claims of the two sides actually overlap,” she said, calling for mutual recognition of governance and a step forward toward political negotiations rather than restricting cross-strait talks to economy-related matters.
The new KMT policy platform that was passed by the party’s national congress in September, which called for enhancing the so-called “1992 consensus” and exploring the possibility of ending cross-strait hostilities by signing a peace accord, is a step in this direction, she said.
However, the new policy platform has sparked controversy even within the party, with senior KMT members, including KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bing (郝龍斌) and former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), expressing their opposition to the changes.
Hung yesterday reiterated that the ROC Constitution refers to “one China” and the “1992 consensus” is “none other than a cross-strait effort to pursue unification,” but with the two sides differing in their interpretations of how it should be achieved.
When a Taiwanese student referred to the ROC and the PRC as “two countries” in his question, Hung interrupted him by saying: “[They are] not two countries.”
When the student asked about her long-term view on cross-strait relations, “whether it would be [Taiwanese] independence, unification or maintaining the ‘status quo,’” Hung said it would either be unification or unification by force.
The future of Taiwan lies in China, the second largest economy in the world, she said.
“While we can no longer retake the mainland, Taiwan can exert its influence [over China] and change its institution,” she said.
Prior to the event, Hung was asked to comment on KMT caucus convener Sufin Siluko’s (廖國棟) remarks on Thursday that he feared the KMT would become more like the “New Party” should Hung be re-elected chairperson.
Hung told reporters that since she became KMT chairperson, the party has not seen a drop-off in membership, but instead, more people wanting to become members.
She also took issue with KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao’s (賴士葆) call for a series of policy debates among chairperson aspirants before the end of next month, saying time should be allowed for preparation.
Additional Reporting by CNA
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
REVENGE TRAVEL: A surge in ticket prices should ease this year, but inflation would likely keep tickets at a higher price than before the pandemic Scoot is to offer six additional flights between Singapore and Northeast Asia, with all routes transiting Taipei from April 1, as the budget airline continues to resume operations that were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Scoot official said on Thursday. Vice president of sales Lee Yong Sin (李榮新) said at a gathering with reporters in Taipei that the number of flights from Singapore to Japan and South Korea with a stop in Taiwan would increase from 15 to 21 each week. That change means the number of the Singapore-Taiwan-Tokyo flights per week would increase from seven to 12, while Singapore-Taiwan-Seoul
BAD NEIGHBORS: China took fourth place among countries spreading disinformation, with Hong Kong being used as a hub to spread propaganda, a V-Dem study found Taiwan has been rated as the country most affected by disinformation for the 11th consecutive year in a study by the global research project Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). The nation continues to be a target of disinformation originating from China, and Hong Kong is increasingly being used as a base from which to disseminate that disinformation, the report said. After Taiwan, Latvia and Palestine ranked second and third respectively, while Nicaragua, North Korea, Venezuela and China, in that order, were the countries that spread the most disinformation, the report said. Each country listed in the report was given a score,
POOR PREPARATION: Cultures can form on food that is out of refrigeration for too long and cooking does not reliably neutralize their toxins, an epidemiologist said Medical professionals yesterday said that suspected food poisoning deaths revolving around a restaurant at Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 Store in Taipei could have been caused by one of several types of bacterium. Ho Mei-shang (何美鄉), an epidemiologist at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences, wrote on Facebook that the death of a 39-year-old customer of the restaurant suggests the toxin involved was either “highly potent or present in massive large quantities.” People who ate at the restaurant showed symptoms within hours of consuming the food, suggesting that the poisoning resulted from contamination by a toxin and not infection of the