Former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday held a news conference in Malaysia to protest the World Chinese Economic Summit’s failure to acknowledge him as the former president of the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan
At the summit earlier in the day, the program designated Ma as “H.E. Ma, Ying-jeou, World Chinese Leader,” or simply “H.E. Ma, Ying-jeou,” without a title, whereas all other heads of state were fully credited.
Refusing to accept the organizer’s arrangements, Ma attended the meeting to give his speech with his own tag, which read: “Former President of the Republic of China (Taiwan),” and introduced himself as such at the beginning of his speech in Malacca.
Photo: CNA
Hours after the speech, Ma criticized summit organizers, saying: “It is hard to fathom this kind of unfair and unreasonable treatment which harms me and also cross-strait relations. This attack on my personal dignity is unacceptable and I will fight for what is right.”
“It is apparent that intervention by the Chinese embassy in Malaysia caused this row,” Ma said.
He said that the invitation by Southern University College had clearly addressed him as a former president of the ROC, but a few days prior to his visit, “there were signs that things had gone wrong,” including questions from the organizers asking whether “world Chinese leader” could be used instead of former president.
Ma said his initial reply was that he would decline the invitation if the organizers insisted on not calling him “former president.” The college agreed at the time to designate him as such, but arrangements for his speech remained in dispute even after his departure from Taipei.
Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) issued a statement criticizing the organizers, saying the treatment Ma received was “extremely impolite and inappropriate” for the former head of Taiwan, demanding “an immediate apology and correction.”
In his speech, Ma said Taiwan-ASEAN ties are to become even closer as a result of Taiwan’s innovation and technology, the entanglement of Southeast Asian economies and the cultural links between Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries.
Under normal conditions trade relations are developed to pursue common interests and are not exclusive, he said.
Political and diplomatic factors affected Taiwan’s efforts to join regional trade arrangements, but ASEAN will support Taiwan’s participation in trade organizations and agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, he said.
Taiwan’s advanced technologies play an important role in the global supply chain and bring advantages to all nations, Ma said, adding that when serving as Taipei mayor 13 years ago he advocated the nation’s inclusion in the ASEAN+3 as an informational member and he hopes Taiwan “will not wait 13 more years” to be a part of regional economic integration.
In response to a reporter’s question on the legal challenge the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) faces from the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee, Ma said: “The KMT faced many difficulties in more than a century of history and I believe solidarity and reform have the power to change destinies, as Sun Yat-sen is the exemplar of KMT members.”
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang
COMMITMENT: The world’s biggest contract chipmaker said that its new 2nm chips, as well as next-generation, cutting-edge 1.4nm chips, will be produced in Taiwan Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that the majority of its most advanced chips would continue to be manufactured in Taiwan and that it is boosting advanced chip packaging capacity to catch up with fast-growing demand driven by generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications like ChatGPT. Deeply rooted in Taiwan, TSMC is expanding production capacity for its most advanced 3-nanometer (nm) chips at its Tainan fab and is building new plants to produce new 2-nanometer chips in Hsinchu and Taichung in 2025. The chipmaker also plans to produce next-generation, cutting-edge 1.4-nanometer chips, which are currently under development, at home, it
PASSAGE DISPUTE: A US and Canadian transit was a provocation and an attempt to ‘exercise hegemony of navigation,’ China’s defense ministry told a forum in Singapore The Ministry of National Defense yesterday urged the Chinese Communist Party to avoid provocative behavior after a Chinese navy ship crossed the paths of a US destroyer and Canadian frigate transiting the Taiwan Strait. A Chinese ship on Saturday “executed maneuvers in an unsafe manner in the vicinity of [the USS] Chung-Hoon,” an American destroyer, the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement. The vessel “overtook Chung-Hoon on their port side and crossed their bow at 150 yards [137m]. Chung-Hoon maintained course and slowed to 10 [knots, 18.5kph] to avoid a collision,” the statement said. It then “crossed Chung-Hoon’s bow a second time
HARD-WON FREEDOM: Beijing’s 1989 crackdown on protesters has not been and should not be forgotten, as China tightens its grip on Hong Kong, Lai said Taiwanese enjoy democracy and freedom and have multiple ways to express their creativity, and hopefully young people in China would also one day have the freedom to sing and express themselves, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, commemorating the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Yesterday was the 34th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s bloody crackdown on student-led protests in Beijing in 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident. Tsai posted a photograph taken in March in a subway station in Guizhou, China, where hundreds of young people gathered to sing People With No Ideals Don’t Get Hurt (沒有理想的人不傷心), saying that they
GUILTY AS CHARGED: Chen Hsueh-sheng repeatedly pressed his belly against a DPP lawmaker and made derogatory remarks when confronted over his behavior The Taipei District Court yesterday upheld a verdict against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生), finding him liable for sexually harassing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) during a physical altercation on the legislative floor in 2020. The DPP lawmaker accused Chen of pressing his belly against her back three times in a sexually suggestive manner during a scuffle between lawmakers from both parties. Chen must pay Fan NT$80,000 in damages as stipulated by a summary ruling of the district court at the first trial, the court said in a news release. The verdict is final as the