Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday followed up on his recent comments about President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) cross-strait policy by reiterating his position on ending the “status quo” with China, saying that “Taiwanese understand that the nation has to walk its own path without fear.”
The statements came in the wake of his recent interview with Japan’s Sankei Shimbun, in which Lee attributed Tsai’s fall in popularity polls to her stance on maintaining the so-called “status quo” in relations with China, which Lee said is a deviation from popular sentiment.
“Taiwan is Taiwan, how can it maintain the ‘status quo’ with China? Taiwanese are opposed to that,” Lee said on the sidelines of an event in Taipei.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏), who also attended the event, said that 70 years ago there were only three independent nations in Asia and the rest were colonies, whereas today there are more than 20 sovereign nations in the region.
“Only Taiwan’s sovereignty is unclear,” Koo said.
If Tsai wants to talk about “maintaining the ‘status quo,’ then she should lay out a plan for the future,” Koo said, adding that failure to do so would be irresponsible.
As for his comments made in the same interview with the Sankei Shimbun, in which he said Tsai lacks courage and decisiveness, Lee said he was not criticizing her, but rather encouraging her to work harder.
Lee said that many problems remain unsolved, citing the lapses in Mega International Commercial Bank’s (兆豐銀行) internal management and controls exposed by the New York State Department of Financial Services’ announcement in August and a US$180 million fine of the bank’s New York branch for breaches of the US Bank Secrecy Act, pension reform disputes, labor disputes and the recent dissolution of TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空).
Lee said problems such as those with TransAsia and Mega Bank are due to the handling of banking and financial matters by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials installed in their posts during the former administration, adding that Taiwan’s problems cannot be solved until these issues are dealt with.
In response to media queries on the Tsai administration’s performance over the past six months, Lee said the government is not handling the issues the public expects it to deal with, citing a drop in Tsai’s approval ratings from 50 percent to about 30 percent.
“[Tsai] must be careful in regard to the issues I just mentioned, otherwise her approval ratings will drop further. If she is not careful, she could end up like the South Korean President [Park Geun-hye],” Lee said.
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday denounced Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) for making false allegations about donations to Ukraine and disclosing confidential documents, with the ministry saying that it would take legal action. The ministry last year signed an agreement with the Czech Republic on a healthcare project to assist Ukraine, which is to be carried out by the Czech Health Technology Institute. Hsu accused the ministry of being indirectly involved in the party politics of the Czech Republic as institute chairman Petr Foit is a local medical supplier, and has close political