Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday defended the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement with China that sparked the Sunflower movement and his “new three noes” policy at the launch of a book recounting his eight years in office.
The Sunflower movement protesters had called for an act to supervise cross-strait agreements, but nothing was done after President Tsai Ing wen’s (蔡英文) administration took office, Ma said, adding that the cross-strait service trade agreement was also left untouched.
At the time, the service sector was a major focus of the Chinese Communist Party’s 12th five-year plan and Taiwan’s service sector was superior to China’s, he said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
If Taiwan had seized the opportunity and signed the pact, its service sector would have greatly benefited, he said, adding that this opportunity is gone forever.
At the question-and-answer session, Ma said that the “three noes” policy — no unification, no independence and no use of force — that he proposed during his time in office has since been adjusted to a “new three noes” policy — no exclusion of the possibility of unification, no independence and no use of force.
Unification is a goal set out in the Constitution, but the Constitution does not set a time frame or outline the conditions under which unification would occur, he said.
While he does not rule out unification, it can only be carried out under appropriate conditions and at an appropriate time, he said.
Unification needs to be carried out peacefully, the process must be democratic and it must occur at a time that Taiwanese can accept, he said.
Taiwan is maintaining the “status quo,” but if the conditions are good, discussion of unification is not impossible, he said, adding that this stance gives Taiwan more flexibility.
Ma said he hopes that this adjustment will enable Taiwan to respond to recent changes in cross-strait relations.
The memoir is written by former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) and based on Ma’s oral accounts.
Responding to Ma’s comments about not ruling out unification, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said that Ma sends a wrong message to the world at a time when the international community and Taiwan are looking for various ways to respond to Chinese suppression and interference in domestic affairs.
Ma’s statement makes it look as if Taiwan does not mind — and even approves of — Chinese suppression, he said.
The right of Taiwanese to decide their future should not be used as a bargaining chip for goodwill from China, he added.
This story has been corrected since it was first published to show that the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement was not a proposal, but a signed treaty, although it was not ratified by the Legislative Yuan.
‘HIDDEN GEM’: The city earned plaudits for its low crime rate, world-class healthcare system, cheap cost of living and easy public transportation Taipei has been named the 10th best city in the world for quality of living in an annual survey by the editors of Monocle, a UK-based global affairs and lifestyle magazine. The survey, which is to be published in the magazine’s July/August issue, selected the world’s top 25 cities based on factors including cost of living, retail, hospitality, culture and access to green spaces, as well as feedback from Monocle correspondents. Taipei’s 10th place finish was one place down from a year earlier. The survey ranked Copenhagen as the world’s best city, with Zurich, Lisbon, Helsinki and Stockholm rounding out the top five.
GLOBAL STRATEGY: Indo-Pacific alliances need reinforcement to prevent Chinese occupation of Taiwan, which would threaten Japan, Hawaii and Australia, Pompeo said The US should officially recognize Taiwan as a free, independent nation and establish official diplomatic ties, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo told an event at the Hudson Institute in Washington on Friday. Every US president since Harry Truman has considered Taiwan’s existence to be of utmost importance to US national security, Pompeo said. Taiwan is a principal US partner in technology and economic matters, and if China were to capture Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain, it would severely hamper the US economy, Pompeo said. Should China occupy Taiwan, it would severely weaken US influence in the Indo-Pacific region and its surrounding areas,
NO COMORBIDITIES: The girl died of encephalitis, the sixth COVID-19-related death of the disease this year and 19th death of a child from the virus, the center said The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 52,213 new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases and 171 deaths from the virus, including a four-year-old girl, who had been diagnosed with encephalitis, and a 19-year-old man, who had underlying health conditions. “The caseloads are usually higher on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but they [yesterday] fell 7.3 percent from the day before,” Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said. Chuang, who is the CECC’s spokesman, said that most cities and counties reported a drop in new cases, and the CECC expects fewer than 50,000 new cases today. The center said that 150 of
LIMIT: The CECC has capped the number of weekly arrivals to 25,000, which critics said has limited the number of available flights and caused ticket prices to soar The government is not likely to raise the cap on the number of inbound travelers before the end of this month, despite the apparent effect on the number of inbound flights, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Wednesday last week eased quarantine rules for inbound travelers, who must undergo three days of home quarantine upon arrival and spend another four days in self-initiated disease prevention. It also capped the number of inbound travelers to 25,000 per week. The weekly limit has drawn criticism that it has limited the number of flights
RSS