Calling it a move to abate the SARS epidemic, pro-independence groups yesterday called for the government to impose a ban on travel to China until Taiwan's entry is allowed into the World Health Organization (WHO).
"If Taiwan really wants to get rid of SARS, we should demand that the government and the legislature make a new regulation imposing a temporary ban on travel to China for all Taiwanese nationals until Taiwan has entered the WHO," presidential adviser Huang Tien-lin (
Huang made the remarks at a press conference held by the Alliance to Campaign for Rectifying the Name of Taiwan, a group which is now promoting the idea of Taipei severing relations with China in a bid to curb the spread of SARS in the country.
Such measures could not only reduce cross-strait interaction to minimum, but also be conducive to the future epidemic infection control by reducing the chances of viruses being carried to Taiwan again, Huang said.
The SARS outbreak has again reminded Taiwan that only by severing relations with China can it strive for stability and development, Huang said.
Huang argued that before 1987, when martial law was lifted here, Taiwan was completely cut off from China and had achieved remarkable economic development. However, following the frequent cross-strait interactions which started a decade ago, Taiwan has been invaded by several infectious diseases -- including foot-and-mouth disease and SARS -- that came here from China, Huang said.
TSU Legislator Liao Pen-yen (
If Vietnam could close its border after that country's first SARS case was reported, why can't Taiwan also temporarily cut off travel links with China?, Liao asked.
Meanwhile, the chairman of World United Formosans for Independence, Ng Chiao-tong (
Ng said he would collaborate with more than 100 Taiwan independence groups to push for a referendum on the country's efforts to join the WHO.
"Taiwan is a democratic society. Therefore, its people should vote to express their united thoughts about the need to enter the WHO. That would be a very symbolic way to represent the will of the people," Ng said.
The KMT has said that Taiwan doesn't need a referendum to represent its people's will to join the WHO, because referenda are designed to solve internal conflicts.
Since no one in this country is opposed the WHO bid, it is needless to use a referendum in this regard, a KMT spoksman said.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
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