The Control Yuan yesterday chastised the Executive Yuan over the increased use of “Taiwan” to refer to the Republic of China (ROC) and “China” to refer to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in government publications.
Control Yuan member Ger Yeong-kuang (葛永光) initiated the corrective measure, which was adopted by the Committee on Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs.
“The incorrect use of designations for our country and for mainland China not only deviates from [the government’s] policy of ‘one China, with each side having its own interpretation,’ but also confuses the public’s perception of national identity,” Ger said.
Citing Articles 1 and 35 of the ROC Constitution, Article 11 of the Amendment of the ROC Constitution and several provisions under the guidelines to address enterprises, academic institutions and groups affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), government and military, as well as personnel working at the organizations and their flags and songs (中共黨政軍機關企業學術機構團體旗歌及人員職銜統一稱謂實施要點), Ger said the Executive Yuan was failing to observe the rules.
Regardless of which country government publications are issued in and who their target audiences are, whenever the nation’s name is mentioned in any such publications, the “ROC” should be used, not “Taiwan,” Ger said.
The PRC should be referred to as either “mainland China” or the “Chinese Communist Party” in government publications, he added.
Executive Yuan spokesperson Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said that the Executive Yuan will request that all government agencies conduct a review of their publications and make the necessary corrections.
The Executive Yuan is required by Article 25 of the Control Act (監察法) to reply to the Control Yuan within two months on what measures it will take to address the problem.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said the censure was another example of the President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration’s “systematic” attempts to “de-Taiwanize,” following proposed changes in high-school history textbooks.
With the censure, government agencies have no reason not to use the name “ROC” more often than “Taiwan” in their references to the country, and the purpose is to make “Taiwan” a “geographic name, not a national symbol,” Chiu said.
Chiu said the Control Yuan has become an “accomplice” to Ma’s scheme to steer the nation toward “eventual unification” with China.
“What is the point of referring to the PRC as either ‘mainland China’ or the ‘Chinese Communist Party’ when it is widely known as ‘China’ in the international community? It serves no purpose but to console the administration,” DPP Legislator Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said.
The public expect the Control Yuan to punish public servants who neglect their duty or violate the law, but it often just closes the cases, leaving the officials unscathed, Lee said, citing the investigations into Prosecutor-General Huang Shih-ming’s (黃世銘) and Keelung Mayor Chang Tong-rong’s (張通榮) actions.
As the time for Ma to nominate candidates for the Control Yuan’s next term approaches, Control Yuan members raised the designation issue and the case of defector Justin Lin (林毅夫) to make it clear to the president that they firmly stand behind his political agenda and increase their chances of being nominated again, Lee said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) praised the censure measure, saying “Taiwan” is just a nickname.
“I am called A-lung at home or by my friends, but I use Tsai Chin-lung in all official documents,” he said.
The International Industrial Talents Education Special (INTENSE) Program to attract foreigners to study and work in Taiwan will provide scholarships and a living allowance of up to NT$440,000 per person for two years beginning in August, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday. Pan was giving an update on the program’s implementation, a review of universities’ efforts to recruit international students and promotion of the Taiwan Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent (BEST) program. Each INTENSE Program student would be awarded a scholarship of up to NT$100,000 per year for up to
‘MONEY PIT’: The KMT’s more than NT$2 trillion infrastructure project proposals for eastern Taiwan lack professional input and financial transparency, the DPP said The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said it would ask the Executive Yuan to raise a motion to oppose the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ infrastructure proposals and prepare to file for a constitutional interpretation if the KMT-dominated legislature forces their passage. The DPP caucus described the three infrastructure plans for transportation links to eastern Taiwan proposed by the KMT as “three money pit projects” that would cost more than NT$2 trillion (US$61.72 billion). It would ask the Executive Yuan to oppose public projects that would drain state financial resources, DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said. It would also file for
SELF-SUFFICIENCY: The project would only be the beginning, as Taiwan needs at least 120 satellites to ensure uninterrupted communication, Wu Tsung-tsong said The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday said it plans to launch six low Earth orbit satellites starting in 2026 as part of the government’s plan to boost the resilience of the nation’s communications. The development of the technology gained attention after Ukrainians were able to access the Internet through Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service, despite their infrastructure being severely damaged in the war with Russia. Two of the satellites would be built by the government, while four would involve cooperation between TASA and private contractors. “Over the past 30 years, the satellite technology in Taiwan has
BASIC OPERATIONS: About half a dozen navy ships from both countries took part in the days-long exercise based on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea An unpublicized joint military exercise between Taiwan and the US in the Pacific Ocean last month was carried out in accordance with an international code, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. According to a Reuters report citing four unnamed sources, the two nations’ navies last month conducted joint drills in the Western Pacific. The drills were not made public at the time, but “about half-a-dozen navy ships from both sides, including frigates and supply and support vessels, participated in the days-long exercises,” Reuters reported, citing the sources. The drills were designed to practice “basic” operations such as communications, refueling and resupplies,