Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), who is vying for the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential nomination, yesterday reiterated his opposition to a Taiwanese version of Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula.
Han on Saturday at a rally in Yunlin County’s Douliou City (斗六) told supporters that “‘one country, two systems’ can never be implemented in Taiwan.”
“Taiwanese can never accept it, unless it is over my dead body,” he added, saying the phrase “over my dead body” in English.
Photo: Ge Yu-hao, Taipei Times
Han led the crowd in chanting “reject ‘one country, two systems’” and asked his supporters to have faith in him.
“If I am given the opportunity to lead the Republic of China [ROC] and become president ... I promise that ‘one country, two systems’ will never be carried out on the land of Taiwan,” Han said.
Han yesterday told reporters that his stance has not changed.
He said that in April when he was asked by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Kaohsiung City Councilor Lin Chih-hung (林智鴻) about the issue at a question-and-answer session at the Kaohsiung City Council, he said: “With my hand on my heart — I support the ROC and oppose ‘one country, two systems.’”
“My position has never changed. Some people have been trying to paint me with a red brush; I do not understand what they are thinking,” he said.
Han’s opponents have accused him of being pro-China and reluctant to criticize Beijing.
In March, he visited China’s liaison offices in Hong Kong and Macau while signing trade deals there, and politicians from the DPP and other parties accused him of supporting the “one country, two systems” framework.
“When have I ever said I would accept the ‘one country, two systems’ formula?” Han asked the crowd on Saturday. “It is impossible for Taiwanese to accept the ‘one country, two systems’ model used in Hong Kong and Macau. Absolutely impossible.”
Organizers estimated that more than 120,000 people attended the rally, while Yunlin police did not provide an estimate.
It was the third large rally to support Han’s presidential bid, following a gathering in Taipei on June 1 and another in Hualien on June 8.
Han is one of five people expected to participate in the KMT’s primary to choose a candidate for the presidential election in January next year.
The party plans to select its candidate based on the results of public opinion polls, which are to be conducted by five polling firms from July 8 to 14.
The results are to be announced on July 15.
Additional reporting by Ge Yu-hao
ALARM GROWS: US officials are concerned that China’s claim that the Taiwan Strait is an internal waterway is a deliberate effort to muddy the legal status of Taiwan US President Joe Biden’s administration has decided to reject a vague new assertion by China that the Taiwan Strait is not “international waters” and is increasingly concerned the stance could result in more frequent challenges at sea for Taiwan, people familiar with the matter said. Chinese officials have made such remarks repeatedly in meetings with US counterparts over the past few months. In the past, while China regularly protested US military moves in the Taiwan Strait, the legal status of the waters was not a regular talking point in meetings with US officials. The timing of the assertion is causing alarm within the
‘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.
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