President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758.
The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan.
It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said.
Lai went on to discuss the definition of a country, saying it must have four elements: citizens, land, government and sovereignty.
The people of Taiwan exercise public authority, engage in foreign diplomacy and maintain national defense capabilities, he said.
“Taiwan is of course a country,” as the 23 million people living here form a political community, Lai said.
Taiwan has democratically elected a president once every four years since 1996, Lai said.
From any perspective, the international community can see that Taiwan is indeed a country, he said.
Although China claims sovereignty over Taiwan under UN Resolution 2758, the resolution only deals with the issue of UN representation and does not mention Taiwan, Lai said.
The resolution was about restoring the rights of the People’s Republic of China as the representative of China in the UN by expelling the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), he said.
The four elements required to form a country do not include participation in the UN, so China cannot use this resolution to claim sovereignty over Taiwan, Lai said.
The US Department of State this year said that China has distorted the resolution and that it does not determine Taiwan’s sovereignty, he said.
Legislative bodies around the world, including those of the US, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, the UK and European countries, have all passed Taiwan-related resolutions, declaring that UN Resolution 2758 does not pertain to Taiwan’s sovereignty, he added.
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
RSS