Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) yesterday caused jitters among an audience of Chinese politicians and academics with talk about Taiwanese independence and the politically sensitive Tiananmen Square student movement on the second day of his trip to China.
Lai, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made his remarks at a Fudan University discussion session in Shanghai.
Regarding cross-strait exchanges, Lai said that since the Taiwanese consciousness of independence preceded the establishment of the DPP, getting rid of the “Taiwan independence clause” in its party charter would not make the society’s call for independence disappear.
Photo: CNA
According to Greater Tainan Department of Information and International Relations Director and delegation member Chao Ching-hui (趙卿惠), Lai spoke in response to a Chinese professor’s comment on what the professor described as the stalled cross-strait relationship.
Fudan University professor Jiang Yihua (姜義華) reportedly blamed the DPP’s independence platform for the alleged stall, saying that despite cross-strait exchanges over the past years, this particular problem has been little recognized and should now be faced squarely.
Lai said that the DPP’s Taiwan independence clause and its Resolution on Taiwan’s Future are part of the trajectory of the development of Taiwan’s history.
“Taiwanese independence is a cause held by the DPP, which completely respects Taiwanese people’s self-determination in terms of procedure. It has enjoyed a clear consensus in Taiwan, as [former president] Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was elected as president on the party’s platform,” Lai said.
“It is important to understand whether the DPP made the cause of independence arise in society, or whether it was society’s call for independence that brought the DPP into existence. Removing the DPP’s Taiwanese independence party platform would not do away with Taiwan’s call for independence,” he said.
Lai said that no problem could be solved before China understands this historical trajectory and he called on the two sides to seek common ground, but also treasure their differences through understanding and reconciliation.
The mayor also mentioned the 1989 Tiananmen Square student movement.
“Fudan University students answered to the cause of the student movement that took place after the death of [reformist Chinese Communist Party] secretary-general Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦) in 1989. And there were more than 400 professors who signed the petition urging the government to recognize the student movement as a patriotic movement,” he said.
The issue of whether Beijing would change its no-contact policy toward the DPP has again come to the forefront amid Lai’s first visit to China on Friday.
Separately yesterday, Beijing reiterated its opposition to Taiwanese independence, but said that it welcomes exchanges with people from all quarters of Taiwan — provided they support advancing cross-strait ties.
The Chinese government maintains a “clear and consistent” policy toward the DPP and stands firmly against Taiwanese independence, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Fan Liqing (范麗青) said when asked about whether Beijing has begun to engage with the DPP.
“We welcome anyone as long as he or she favors, supports and participates in the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, no matter what he or she has advocated in the past,” she said.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘NO EQUILIBRIUM’: Taiwan’s increased defense spending is a good step, but it needs to do more to have the ability to deter aggression from China, a senior US official said The US plans to sell as many as seven major weapons systems — including mines, cruise missiles and drones — to Taiwan, four people familiar with the discussions said. Pursuing seven sales at once is a rare departure from years of precedent in which US military sales to Taiwan were spaced out and carefully calibrated to minimize tensions with Beijing. However, US President Donald Trump’s administration has this year become more aggressive with China, and the sales would land as relations between Beijing and Washington are at their lowest point in decades over accusations of spying, lingering trade tensions, disputes about the
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Several of the PLA fighter jets that crossed the median line of the Strait came within 68km of Hsinchu, drawing warnings from Taiwan, the ministry said At least 18 Chinese military aircraft yesterday flew into the nation’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on the second day of a US delegation’s visit, the Ministry of National Defense said, adding that the military responded by deploying an air defense missile system to monitor their activities. A delegation led by US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach on Thursday started a three-day visit to Taiwan. The ministry from Thursday started publicizing the actions of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Taiwan’s ADIZ on its Web site and Twitter. According to ministry reports, 18 PLA aircraft
TWO CASES: The five allegedly conspired with conglomerates, threatening the nation’s governance and subverting the rules of ethical conduct, a deputy chief prosecutor said Taipei prosecutors yesterday charged three legislators and one former lawmaker with contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) in a case linked to former Pacific Distribution Investment Co (太平洋流通) chairman Lee Heng-lung’s (李恆隆) battle with the Far Eastern Group (遠東集團) over ownership of the Pacific SOGO Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨) chain, while independent Legislator Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇) was indicted in a separate case involving two funeral services companies and a plot of land in a national park. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) and Sufin Siluko (廖國棟), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清) and former New Power Party legislator
Swedish Member of Parliament Hampus Hagman is pushing for changing the name of the nation’s trade office in Taipei to signal improved relations with “Asia’s perhaps foremost democracy.” Hagman on Wednesday last week proposed renaming the Swedish Trade and Invest Council to “Sweden’s Office in Taipei,” following similar changes by other nations. The Swedish Trade and Invest Council, part of Business Sweden, is owned by the Swedish government and Swedish industry. Taiwan and Sweden share important values such as respect for democracy, human rights, the rule of law and freedom of speech, Hagman said in the motion, adding that the two nations
RSS