New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明) yesterday said the party will continue to advocate peaceful unification with China, adding that signing a peace treaty with China would be one of its campaign promises for the 2020 presidential and legislative elections.
Yok made the remarks at a ceremony in Taipei marking the 24th anniversary of the party’s establishment.
The party’s 99-year-old spiritual leader, former army general Hsu Li-nung (許歷農), Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁), Taipei City Council Speaker Wu Pi-chu (吳碧珠) and Chinese Union Promotion Party founder and Chairman Chang “White Wolf” An-le (張安樂) also attended the ceremony.
The party announced that it has officially split with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would position itself as a uniting force for all political groups advocating peaceful unification with China and opposing Taiwanese independence.
“The KMT said it will not unite with China, we say we want unification. This is one of the fundamental differences between the two parties,” Yok said.
“Suppose that the KMT keeps failing to have a concrete goal, then we would have to walk our own path, which is to march toward a peaceful unification with China and reinvigorate China as a strong nation. The KMT has apparently given up this mission. The New Party is willing to take over that responsibility,” he said.
Yok said the two parties differ on the issue of unifying with China.
“However, the KMT opposes Taiwanese independence, we can perhaps work with each other on this basis,” he said.
The party would host a pro-unification rally to combine all forces, Yok said.
Yok said signing a peace treaty with China would be among the party’s campaign promises in the 2020 elections.
“Signing a peace agreement with China would help Taiwan avoid a war and save the nation billions of dollars in purchasing defensive weapons. That money can be used toward social welfare and other expenditures,” he said, adding that such an agreement would also boost Taiwan’s economic development.
The party would propose amending the Regulations Governing the Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the People of the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), so that people across the Taiwan Strait would have closer exchanges in the economic realm and all aspects of life, he said.
The spirit of the Republic of China is long gone, Yok said, adding that the term “Republic of China” is now used by both KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party as a nominal term.
The New Party is the true bearer of the torch handed down by former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) and the party carries on with the same spirit Chiang did in the KMT, he said.
New Party Deputy Chairman Lee Sheng-feng (李勝峰) said the party’s goal of unifying with China and protecting the interests of Taiwan cannot be accomplished simply by doing whatever Beijing says.
Lee said the party would run in the elections next year and 2020.
“We will not skip the Taipei mayoral election next year and might participate in the New Taipei City mayoral election as well,” he said.
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
DEMAND: The government should enact regulations in line with Austria and Germany to incorporate vegan nutrition into school meals, an advocate said More than 1,000 people yesterday marched in Taipei to promote veganism, calling for legislation to incorporate vegan diets into school lunches and the national net zero emissions program. Participants gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building for the march, which was organized by the Vegan Action Network (VAN). Former ambassador to Chad Chiu Chung-jen (邱仲仁), actor Yankee Yang (楊子儀) and actress Cindy Lien (連俞涵) attended the event. VAN member Marianne Chao (趙梅君) said that the campaign aimed to urge the government to promote vegan diets across schools and government agencies via legislation and national policies, which would help build
RSS