The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) delegation that has traveled to China to push for cooperation and reconciliation with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is "seemingly deranged with regard to space and time," President Chen Shui-bian (
"It is unimaginable that this could happen at this time, when Taiwan is already implementing democratic and Constitutional rule. What [accord] could possibly be achieved through KMT-CCP co-operation?" Chen asked. His remarks yesterday were his first public comments about the KMT delegation's visit to China.
Headed by KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kun (
In reference to Chiang's trip, Chen said "recently `someone' has traveled to the other side of the Strait to push for `reconciliation between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party' ... the situation seems to be out of place and time, as if they had turned the clock back 60 to 80 years ago, when the two parties were trying to find common ground."
"It is now 2005. We have entered the 21st century, and a country can only progress by moving forward and not backpedalling. Is it right then to go back to 1945, 1935 or 1925?" Chen asked rhetorically, alluding to previous periods of KMT-CCP cooperation in the 1920s and during World War II.
"Taiwan has implemented democratic and constitutional rule. Can we now put a party above the nation?" Chen said in a speech delivered at the inauguration of an educational institute hosted by the National Youth Commission (青輔會) "Is it possible that we are supposed to return to the old days and do what the Chinese Communist Party still does: Let a party keep an iron grip on the government and the military?"
Chen said that "placing our hope in the people and upholding the principle of `Taiwan first' are the correct and best choices to make."
Chen told the audience of young people that the biggest difference between the two sides of the Strait was not about governments, but about different lifestyles and social systems, saying that it boiled down to "democracy versus communism and peace versus threats."
"Like a divided house that cannot stand, if we can't unite among ourselves, we are then a divided country," Chen said.
"If we can't unite but continue to stay divided in a dichotomy of pan-blues and pan-greens, do we need more of the Anti-Secession Law? Our own country will fall apart first, even without the Anti-Secession Law," the president said. He added that "only a united Taiwan can stabilize cross-strait relations."
Touching upon last Saturday's demonstration denouncing the enactment of the Anti-Secession Law, the president took the opportunity to explain the significance of the march, in which hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets.
The march was significant because the motivation behind the event was the people and not politicians, Chen said, adding that political figures, including himself and Premier Frank Hsieh (
"The 326 March for Democracy and Peace was a bona fide international press conference, not my own nor any person's press conference," Chen said. "A million people marched in the streets and, via their action, showed the world their determination to safeguard Taiwan's democracy and peace, as well as their opposition to Beijing's law."
"It was the best international press conference and the entire international media saw, heard and reported it," he said.
THREATS: Naval facilities have been built in Shanghai and Zhejiang, while airbases have been expanded in Xiamen, Fuzhou and Zhangpu, across the Strait from Taiwan The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is building large-scale military infrastructure at five sites along the eastern coast of China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a recent report. The latest issue of the council’s Mainland China Situation Quarterly said satellite photos showed military infrastructure such as air force and naval bases being constructed along the eastern coast of China. That means the CCP might be preparing for potential conflict in Taiwan, it said, adding that there are five such construction sites from north to south. A naval base has been built in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, with underground oil storage tanks, railway
MILESTONE: The foreign minister called the signing ‘a major step forward in US-Taiwan relations,’ while the Presidential Office said it was a symbol of the nations’ shared values US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the state department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct a review “not less than every five years.” It must then submit an updated report based on its findings “not later
A trial run of the north concourse of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s new Terminal 3 is to commence today, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The eight additional boarding gates would allow for more aircraft parking spaces that are expected to boost the airport’s capacity by 5.8 million passengers annually, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Kuo-shian (林國顯) said. The concourse, designed by a team led by British architect Richard Rogers, provides a refreshing space, Lin said, adding that travelers would enjoy the tall and transparent design that allows sunshine to stream into the concourse through glass curtain walls. The
The Presidential Office today thanked the US for enacting the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law, signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday, is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct such a review "not less than every five years." It must then submit an updated
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