President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Friday told a large gathering of Taiwanese expats in Denver, Colorado, that Taiwan would not succumb to pressure, but would continue to safeguard its freedoms, democracy and sovereignty.
“Many of you here today are concerned about Taiwan’s future,” Tsai said, addressing the 700-plus Taiwanese guests at a banquet held in her honor during her stopover in Denver on the return leg of her visit to Taiwan’s four diplomatic allies in the Caribbean.
Many people are anxious because China is perceived as closing in on Taiwan and has resorted to a carrot-and-stick approach to pressure Taiwan’s 23 million people into accepting its “one country, two systems” model, Tsai said, mostly in English, but with some Mandarin and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) thrown in.
Photo: CNA
Feelings of anxiety have been heightened by the sight of Hong Kong gradually losing its freedoms and democracy, she said, referring to massive protest triggered by an extradition bill that would allow the Hong Kong government to extradite criminal suspects to China.
“That has us worried about whether Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy will also disappear,” Tsai said at the banquet, which was also attended by American Institute in Taiwan Chairman James Moriarty, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, US Senator Cory Gardner and US Representative Doug Lamborn.
Tsai said that China’s suppression of Taiwan has been evident throughout her trip, including several complaints that Beijing lodged with the US government.
It has also shown up as information warfare, or disinformation, used to infiltrate Taiwanese society, she said.
“Next year will be a critical time for us to safeguard Taiwan’s democracy,” Tsai said, urging Taiwanese expats to return home next year to vote.
Solidarity is needed in the fight to protect Taiwan’s democracy and way of life for future generations, said Tsai, who is seeking re-election.
Arriving at about 3pm on Friday in Denver — the last leg of her 12-day overseas visit, including a stopover in New York City — Tsai and her delegation were received by Moriarty and Representative to the US Stanley Kao (高碩泰).
Prior to Tsai’s arrival, hundreds of Taiwanese expats had gathered outside the Hilton Denver City Center, where she was to stay.
Many waved the national flags of the Republic of China and the US, while others held banners that read: “Taiwan,” or bore slogans such as “Freedom and democracy, safeguard Taiwan.”
About a dozen Chinese protesters demonstrated near the hotel, waiving the People’s Republic of China national flag and chanting: “One China.”
No clashes occurred.
Tsai’s itinerary yesterday included visits to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a US federal laboratory dedicated to renewable energy development, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which developed Formosat-7, the second satellite cluster jointly built by Taiwan and the US.
She is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan tomorrow.
FATAL FIRE: The health department is trying to contact the inspector who visited the site of the illegal nursing home to ask why they did not advise follow-up checks The Taipei City Government yesterday said that a health department inspector last year had visited the site of a long-term care facility in Neihu District (內湖) after receiving a report questioning its status. A fire broke out at the facility on Tuesday afternoon, killing three people. The Taipei Fire Department said that it received a report about a fire on the first floor of a four-story residential building on Kangning Road Sec. 1 at 2:38pm on Tuesday, firefighters arrived at 2:43pm and the fire was put out by 3:07pm. The firefighters found three men in beds and rushed them to hospital for
Taipei City Councilor Wang Hao (王浩) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Monday called for security improvements to the MRT, as fare evasion has increased more than 13-fold on the metropolitan railway system over the past five years. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has spoken out against fare evasion and other contraventions of MRT regulations, but since he took office in 2015 the number of contraventions has more than doubled, Wang said, adding that there were 537 cases in 2015 compared with 959 last year. A video was posted to YouTube in June showing people how to evade paying a fare,
FEELING MISUNDERSTOOD: Media speculation has fueled confusion about the KMT’s reasons for skipping a Chinese forum and delaying an AIT meeting, party sources said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Sunday said that it is not seeking to improve relations with the US or China at the expense of the other, and that its relations with the countries would be topic-based. The party has faced questions over its foreign policy after it on Monday last week announced its withdrawal from the annual Straits Forum and delayed planned talks with the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). The party has also taken a tough stance on the importation of US meat containing ractopamine, while also lambasting China for increasing its military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait. Following
Yuchi Township (魚池) fishers have appealed to the Nantou County Government for help in dealing with an invasive fish species in Sun Moon Lake (日月潭), where it has devastated the local ecosystem. Fishers at Sun Moon Lake have been using electrofishing in an attempt to eliminate the giant snakehead fish — found in Africa and Southeast Asia — but they have struggled to keep up with the growing population of the species, which breeds during September and October, the county government said on Monday. The county has contacted researchers at National Tsing Hua University, saying it hoped they could come up
RSS