Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Chen Zau-nan (陳昭南) yesterday submitted a petition demanding that the party freeze the Taiwanese independence clause in its party charter in the upcoming party congress, which he said would help the DPP regain power.
The petition called for freezing the first article of the party charter, usually known as the Taiwanese independence clause, which calls for the “establishment of an independent sovereignty known as the Republic of Taiwan.”
The petition received more than 40 signatures, 20 of which came from party representatives.
Photo: Chen Hui-ping, Taipei Times
Chen said he had made the same proposal in 2000, adding that Taiwan was already an independent sovereignty under the name of the Republic of China and its future should be decided by its 23 million residents.
The clause had fulfilled its purpose and the DPP has no need to further push Taiwanese independence, Chen said.
The move would improve the party and the nation, Chen said, adding that the cross-strait issue should not be an obstacle barring the DPP from returning to power and keeping the KMT in power.
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) knew nothing of the proposal until he brought it up yesterday, Chen said, adding that although he could not advance the issue as he was not a national party representative, he would continue to push the proposal.
DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said freezing the clause would have no real meaning, adding that the Resolution on Taiwan’s Future (台灣前途決議文) had in large part superseded the Taiwanese independence clause.
DPP legislators Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) and Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) both disagreed with the proposal to freeze the clause, with Chen Chi-mai saying that the clause formed part of the basic tenet of the DPP charter and represented the values and the spirit of the party.
Lee said the clause was a precious historic article and there was no need to freeze it because the spirit of the resolution was accepted by party members and by the international community.
National Cheng Chi University professor Tung Chen-yuan (童振源), one of the petition’s drafters, said the clause had become an obstacle to the DPP, and resolving the issue depended on the determination and willingness of Tsai Ing-wen.
The clause is detrimental to Taiwan, Tung said, adding that even if the DPP were willing to implement the clause, it lacks the power to do so in the near future because ratifying the Constitution requires the support of three-quarters of the Legislative Yuan.
Freezing the clause would be a step toward unifying Taiwan’s consensus on cross-strait issues, Tung said.
Meanwhile, student activist leader Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷) spoke against the freeze on Facebook, saying it would be an illogical move and like an ostrich burying its head in the sand in response to danger.
If the DPP were to agree to the freeze, it would need to brace itself to be replaced as the main opposition party, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
Taiwan must invest in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to keep abreast of the next technological leap toward automation, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said at the luanch ceremony of Taiwan AI and Robots Alliance yesterday. The world is on the cusp of a new industrial revolution centered on AI and robotics, which would likely lead to a thorough transformation of human society, she told an event marking the establishment of a national AI and robotics alliance in Taipei. The arrival of the next industrial revolution could be a matter of years, she said. The pace of automation in the global economy can
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,