The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday urged the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to stop flattering China by sacrificing Taiwan's sovereignty and the legal rights of its people.
“KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) addressed President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as ‘Mr. Ma’ during a banquet with Chinese Communist Party [CCP] officials on Monday night. This kind of behavior has me worried that he may have forgotten about Taiwan and its 23 million people,” Legislative Whip William Lai (賴清德) told a press conference.
He said the DPP was opposed to the KMT-CCP’s party-to-party communications because the rights of Taiwanese could easily be sacrificed.
PHOTO: AFP
“Any decision-making that concerns a country and its people must be supervised by the public,” the caucus whip said.
Lai’s comments were echoed by DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮), who said the US would never assign a party chairman to negotiate with a foreign country on behalf of the government, because a political party’s concerns could never reflect all US citizens’ concerns.
Meanwhile, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), another a DPP member, voiced her concern about Wu’s trip, saying he had made a “hasty” decision to visit China before the new government had had the opportunity to fully assess public opinion. She urged the KMT to insist on Taiwan’s sovereignty while protecting people’s interests during the KMT delegation’s trip.
However, Deputy KMT caucus Secretary-General Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) downplayed the implication of Wu Poh-hsiung referring to Ma as “Mr” on Monday night.
Wu Yu-sheng said the KMT chairman’s comments reflected his intention to “put aside controversies and ensure mutual respect” for both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Wu Poh-hsiung paid homage at Sun Yat-sen’s (孫逸仙) Mausoleum in Nanjing yesterday, saying both the “mainland” and Taiwan belong to the Chinese nation and are “closely tied by blood,” which no one could obliterate. He said the KMT has promised to make the welfare and interests of the people of Taiwan its top priority because the people gave the KMT its election victories.
Wu Poh-hsiung said his delegation chose Nanjing as their first destination in China because it was the former seat of the KMT government and therefore had unique significance to the KMT historically and emotionally.
Noting that Sun was respected on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the KMT chief said that every KMT delegation visiting China goes to Sun’s mausoleum.
He said that he had gone there when he visited as KMT vice chairman after the party lost power to the DPP in 2000.
“I felt really ashamed in front of Sun [then],” he said.
Sun’s soul should be comforted by the KMT’s return to power, he said.
He said it would be easier for KMT members to visit Nanjing in the future, hinting that they would be able to take direct flights from Taipei.
Wu Poh-hsiung invited Nanjing residents to travel to Taiwan after his visit to Sun’s mausoleum attracted a lot of local attention — and shouts of “Go” and “Peaceful unification.”
He laid a floral wreath next to the statue of Sun and observed a minute of silence.
Later in the day Wu flew to Beijing, where he is scheduled to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) today.
Wu said yesterday he hoped the vision shared by former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and Hu during their meeting in 2005 could become reality.
The two planned to facilitate the resumption of bilateral negotiations, end the state of hostility, sign a peace accord and establish a mechanism for economic cooperation.
Wu said it was his party’s responsibility to the peoples on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to materialize these five wishes.
He made the remarks while meeting Jia Qinglin (賈慶林), head of the People’s Political Consultative Conference, in Beijing yesterday evening.
He thanked Jia for attending the past three cross-strait economic forums and making an effort to push the peaceful development of cross-strait ties.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
SECURITY: Taipei presses the US for arms supplies, saying the arms sales are not only a reflection of the US security commitment to Taiwan but also serve as a mutual deterrent against regional threats Taiwan is committed to preserving the cross-strait “status quo” and contributing to regional peace and stability, the Presidential Office said yesterday. “It is an undeniable fact that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent democratic nation,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) reiterated, adding that Beijing has no right to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. The statements came after US President Donald Trump warned against Taiwanese independence. Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had pressed him not to support Taiwan. Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying
RSS