Pro-Beijing pandering by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman-elect ignores the facts and would allow the party to become a target for China’s “united front” tactics, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
The KMT on Saturday elected former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) as chairman on promises of reopening all channels of communication with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday sent a letter congratulating Chu and calling for cooperation between the parties amid a “complex and grim” situation in the Taiwan Strait.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
Chu in response expressed his wish that the parties could seek common ground on the basis of the so-called “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence.
The MAC later in the day condemned Chu for his remarks that “cater to the CCP while ignoring the facts.”
By placing the blame for cross-strait tensions at the feet of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, the KMT is allowing itself to become the primary target for Beijing’s “united front” efforts to divide Taiwanese, the council said.
The government is committed to preserving peace across the Taiwan Strait, but CCP authorities repeatedly threaten and suppress the nation’s military and diplomatic efforts, destroying the “status quo” while refusing to communicate, it said.
These are the main sources of cross-strait tensions and the biggest challenges Taiwan faces, it said, adding that Beijing’s actions have been condemned by Taiwanese and the international community alike.
Chu’s black-and-white statements accusing the DPP of obstructing China portend that the KMT’s cross-strait policy is to drift farther from public opinion, it said.
The council also urged the KMT to understand how Beijing’s definition of the “1992 consensus” denies Taiwanese sovereignty and interactions on this basis have repeatedly failed to gain public support.
The DPP also condemned Chu’s response to Xi’s letter, saying that no other political party in a democracy would expect to receive a congratulatory message from the leader of an autocratic government.
Chu only cares about meeting Beijing’s expectations while ignoring mainstream domestic public opinion, it said, adding that this kind of leadership cannot carry the KMT into a new era as Chu has promised.
The DPP also decried Chu’s failure to hold the true perpetrators to account while blaming the victims.
Chu’s criticism of his deep-blue opponent, Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中), during the campaign suggested a move away from the old KMT party line, but he lacked the courage to refute Xi’s alignment of the two parties, the DPP said, calling his unwillingness to speak up for public opinion “regrettable.”
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing