A pledge to defend Taiwan and never surrender has garnered 263 signatures among candidates in Saturday’s local elections, independence advocates said yesterday.
All 21 of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) county commissioner and mayoral candidates signed the pledge, but no candidates from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) or Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) signed it, they said.
China’s “hardline” approach to Taiwan has intensified since the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 20th National Congress, at which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) refused to renounce the use of force against Taiwan, World United Formosans for Independence chairman Chen Nan-tien (陳南天) said.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The decision of the DPP mayoral candidates in the six special municipalities to sign the pledge was in stark contrast with the inaction of the KMT and TPP candidates, Chen said, adding that the results “make it clear who is friend, foe and traitor.”
There were 37 signatories among candidates for city council seats in Kaohsiung, 24 in Taipei, 22 in New Taipei City, 11 in Taoyuan, 32 in Taichung and 20 in Tainan, the organizers of the pledge said.
In other city and county councils, 24 Taiwan Statebuilding Party members signed the pledge, while there were 15 from the Taiwan Obasang Political Equality Party and 26 from the DPP’s Taiwan Forward faction, the organizers said.
Two TPP councilor candidates from outside the six special municipalities signed, one in Tainan and one in Kaohsiung, they said.
Freedom of speech allows people to express pro-unification views, but voters should reject such candidates, as Taiwan must resist China’s ambitions to annex the nation, Taiwan New Constitution Foundation deputy director Sung Cheng-en (宋承恩) said.
Taiwanese should harbor no illusions about China, which is the nation’s main adversary, Sung said, adding that the KMT’s absence from the pledge undermines its lip service to defend the Republic of China.
Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) urged voters to reject politicians who might collude with the enemy.
Although the DPP’s mayoral and county commissioner candidates supported the pledge, some of the party’s candidates running for local posts did not sign it, Presbyterian Church in Taiwan representative Lin Wei-lien (林偉聯) said, before asking members of churches represented by his organization to not vote for such candidates.
China has long meddled in Taiwan’s elections and its operatives are waiting to see what will happen on Saturday, Taiwan Statebuilding Party Secretary-General Wang Hsing-huan (王興煥) said.
The local elections will affect the perception of Taiwan internationally and has ramifications for the 2024 presidential election, Wang said.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
‘FALLACY’: Xi’s assertions that Taiwan was given to the PRC after WWII confused right and wrong, and were contrary to the facts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday called Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) claim that China historically has sovereignty over Taiwan “deceptive” and “contrary to the facts.” In an article published on Wednesday in the Russian state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Xi said that this year not only marks 80 years since the end of World War II and the founding of the UN, but also “Taiwan’s restoration to China.” “A series of instruments with legal effect under international law, including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration have affirmed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan,” Xi wrote. “The historical and legal fact” of these documents, as well
RSS