The People First Party yesterday criticized the "one country, three systems" proposal put forth by the New Party as one that would wipe out Taiwan, as the two parties continued to haggle over their cross-strait policies.
The New Party's proposal supports unification with China after a number of unresolved issues are agreed to.
These issues include deciding what China and Taiwan will be called once they unify and the extent of autonomy Taiwan will be given. The proposal also supports a step-by-step progression to eventual unification.
Chang Hsien-yao (
In the agreement they pledged to support "one China with different interpretations" for cross-strait negotiations and to develop cross-strait relations in accordance with the Guidelines for National Unification.
"We should handle cross-strait relations flexibly and maintain Taiwan's autonomy and security. We can never agree to the New Party's `one country, three systems' proposal," Chang said.
The three parties, after fighting for days over the PFP's claim to lead the opposition alliance, have redirected their focus to their differences on cross-strait policies.
On Wednesday, PFP Chairman James Soong (
Further elaborating on Soong's remark yesterday, Chang said the PFP supports developing cross-strait relations according to a step-by-step "integration" model that would allow the people of Taiwan to find a common ground on the long-standing dispute of unification versus independence.
Chang said the PFP's proposal is consistent with the mainstream trend because over 60 percent of Taiwanese are in favor of maintaining the status quo.
In response to the PFP's criticism, New Party Deputy Secretary-general Thomas Ho (何振盛) said that the PFP's policy aimed only to procrastinate, which would cause Taiwan to lose any advantages it has in cross-strait negotiations.
Ho said his party believes Taiwan should negotiate with China on an equal footing over the "one country, three systems" proposal.
Unlike Hong Kong and Macao, which were under colonial rule and lacked any leverage to negotiate with China, Taiwan is in a more advantageous position to negotiate, he said.
New Party legislator Elmer Fung (
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
RSS