Taiwanese-independence advocates yesterday accused former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of breaking national security laws and called on the judiciary to investigate after his statement that “China will wage a battle, which will be quick and will be the last battle for Taiwan.”
Ma showed his true colors “as a mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party” in his speech on Monday when he said the “first battle will be the last,” Taiwan Republic Office (台灣國辦公室) director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) said.
“Ma is threatening Taiwanese by claiming that Beijing will launch a quick invasion of Taiwan, but that the US military will have no time and no chance to come to Taiwan’s aid,” Chen said.
Photo: Jason Pan, Taipei Times
Chen and other protesters called Ma “a bootlicker” of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and a colluder with an enemy state, seeking to sell out Taiwan.
At the protest in front of Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan Republic Office members performed a skit in which Chen, wearing a Ma mask, acted as if he were committing hara-kiri.
“We are asking Ma to perform hara-kiri as a public apology to our citizens for selling out Taiwan... We cannot accept Ma’s talk of capitulation — and that coming from a former president, who is now a propagandist for China and coerces the Taiwanese to surrender to China without a fight,” Chen said.
Members from the Taiwan Independence Party (建國黨), the Nation Building Forum (建國廣場) and a youth group advocating Taiwan’s liberation from colonial powers also joined the protest.
The demonstrators called on KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) to revoke Ma’s party membership and urged the judiciary to investigate Ma for colluding with China to sabotage Taiwan’s national security, breaching the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and possible leaking of military secrets.
“Ma’s talks show that he has no comprehension of modern warfare, but he is undermining the confidence of Taiwan’s military and its ability to defend our homeland, while wrecking Taiwan’s chances of forming an alliance with other democratic nations to counter China’s warmongering and hegemony in the Asia-Pacific,” Chen said.
“We are not surprised at all because Ma — coming from the KMT one-party state — has fought democratic values and people’s right to self-determination and is always seen cowering in the face of Chinese aggression,” he added.
Other protesters presented documents and news reports in which the former president and KMT lawmakers stalled legislative sessions 69 times from 2008 to 2016, eventually blocking three major arms deals with the US.
During Ma’s presidency, he tried to end the development of indigenous missiles at Taiwan’s top weapons research institutes, they added.
Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) of the Democratic Progressive Party said that Ma speaks as if he is the head of a Chinese state media outlet.
“Now Ma is showing the world where his loyalties lie, and since he left the presidency, Ma has acted as a propagandist for China and no longer pretends to act in Taiwan’s best interests,” Wang said.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in