Fri, Jan 26, 2018 page3

• Be proactive on flag issue: legislators

  SIDELINED: KMT lawmakers warned against favoring the US over China, saying that Taiwan’s interests might be sacrificed by a profit-minded Trump government

  • By Sean Lin / Staff reporter
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  Lawmakers yesterday urged President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration to adopt a proactive approach following the US government’s removal of the Republic of China (ROC) flag from some of its Web sites.

  Taiwan’s interests could be sacrificed in US-China negotiations if its diplomatic and national security organs fail to see through US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, with its profit mindset, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) secretary-general Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.

  “If the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] administration, with its unrequited affections, continues to adopt a foreign policy that is disproportionately tilted toward the US, it could end up gaining nothing from both sides [the US and China],” she said.

  Local media reports earlier this week said that the ROC flag has disappeared from the Web sites of the US Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs and the Office of the US Trade Representative.

  That followed the US Department of State’s removal of the ROC flag from its official Web site in September last year.

  Lee said she believed the response by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) on Wednesday was an attempt to downplay the issue.

  The government should summon Representative to the US Stanley Kao (高碩泰) and ask him to give a briefing on the matter, Lee said.

  The DPP talks eloquently about upholding the nation’s dignity and sovereignty, and it should adopt the same attitude rather than remaining silent on the issue, she said.

  The disappearance of the ROC flag from three US agencies could profoundly impact Taiwan on several fronts, said KMT Legislator Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a member of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee.

  From a diplomatic perspective, the Department of State removing the flag from its Web site “clearly” shows that some kind of deal had been made between China and the US, Hsu said.

  Tsai, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and national security agencies should explain to the public Taiwan’s place in negotiations between China and the US, he said.

  The Office of the US Trade Representative’s removal of the ROC flag from its Web site has dealt a heavy blow to the nation’s economy, and suggests that Trump, with his business-oriented mentality, puts economic gains ahead of anything else, and would readily involve Taiwan in US-China negotiations, he said.

  The removal of the ROC flag from the Bureau of Consular Affairs Web site is likely to have repercussions for Taiwanese traveling to the US, causing them inconvenience when passing through immigration, he said.

  The US’ removal of the ROC flag represents a major setback for Tsai’s pandering to the US policy, which could have negative implications for all Taiwanese, he said.

  The disappearance of the flag followed a similar incident last year, but since it now involves three US agencies, Kao can no longer shrug off the first incident as an “isolated case,” he said.

  Hsu added that if reports that the Vatican and China are in talks over the right to appoint bishops are true, there was little that could be done to stop the two from establishing formal diplomatic ties, which could create a domino effect, prompting Taiwan’s predominantly Catholic diplomatic allies in Central and Southern America to switch diplomatic recognition to China.

  Tsai has an annual budget of more than NT$70 million (US$2.41 million) for her diplomatic trips, and instead of visiting the nation’s Central and South American allies, she should seek a meeting with the Pope in the Vatican to consolidate bilateral ties, he said.

  DPP caucus deputy director-general Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) said there has been no change in US-Taiwan relations in the wake of the incident.

  “However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should toughen up against the Department of State’s and Office of the US Trade Representative’s removal of the nation’s flag from the introductory pages of countries around the world,” he said.

  This is an issue that calls for all political parties to make their stance clear, he said.

  Additional reporting by CNA
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