Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in Switzerland on Wednesday warned that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) plan to scrap the National Unification Council and the national unification guidelines may have "serious consequences."
Ma issued the warning while answering questions from reporters upon his arrival at Geneva airport from Turin, Italy, as he continued his five-nation European tour.
Taiwan's Representative to Geneva Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡), greeted Ma as he arrived at the airport.
Although Chen proposed the idea without mentioning how it would be put into practice, Ma said that he wanted to remind the president that such a plan could have grave consequences if it were carried out, as illustrated by Washington's reaction.
Peace and prosperity
Stating that the aim of the KMT's cross-strait policy is to achieve peace and prosperity for Taiwan, Ma stressed that he will advocate a "third path" for Taiwan -- maintaining the status quo while boosting bilateral exchanges and mutual understanding across the Strait.
Ma was expected to fly to London last night after his Italian visit.
Chen said in his Jan. 29 Lunar New Year speech that the time may be right to ponder dissolving the council and its guidelines as China had failed to renounce the use of force against Taiwan.
Chen's New Year remarks immediately drew a backlash from the US, which reiterated its opposition to any unilateral changes made by either Taiwan or China to the cross-strait status quo.
According to Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who met with Chen on Wednesday, the president again aired his views about scrapping the National Unification Council and national unification guidelines to counter Ma's "eventual unification" theory, which the president viewed as a violation of the Taiwanese people's right to decide their own future.
Focused
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (
The "eventual unification" that Ma referred to must be based on preconditions of peace and equitable prosperity on both sides of the Strait and with the consent of Taiwan's people, Lai said, adding that what Ma talked about did not exceed the framework of the National Unification Council or its guidelines.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) accused the president of playing hardball by saying that he had unfairly interpreted Ma's remarks to the foreign media as a way of shifting the general public's attention from the poor performance of the government.
A recently discovered supernova is the brightest and closest to Earth identified in the past decade, and can be observed with basic equipment, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said on Wednesday. The supernova has an absolute magnitude of 14.9 in luminosity and is in the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) about 21 million light-years from Earth. It was discovered early on May 20 by Japanese amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki, who immediately reported the finding to the International Astronomical Union, the museum said. The supernova was designated SN 2023ixf following the astronomical naming conventions for supernovas, it added. The museum said that it observed
Tropical storm Guchol is moving in a northeasterly direction off the east coast of the Philippines and will not hit Taiwan, but will impact local weather starting on Friday, the Central Weather Bureau said Thursday. The storm would bring a low-pressure system northward toward the vicinity of Taiwan, forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. Northern Taiwan will see intermittent rain showers in the morning, and thunderstorms in the afternoon on Friday, he said, adding that rain would be heavier on the east coast and in the central-southern mountainous areas. Rainfall would continue into Saturday, and would spread throughout Taiwan proper, he
Exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday denied an accusation by former Taiwanese political worker Lee Yuan-chun (李援軍) that Wang had sexually harassed him in a hotel room in New York nine years ago. There was a huge gap between Lee’s accusation and his own understanding and memory, Wang wrote on Facebook, adding it was hard for him to respond further regarding a “unilateral description” made by someone else. Wang made the remarks after his initial response on Facebook was met with criticism, with people saying he did not directly address the allegation. Lee on Friday wrote on Facebook that he
A man was arrested in Hsinchu on Saturday on suspicion of filming women in the women’s washroom of a shopping mall in the city, local Chinese-language media reported on Thursday. The man was arrested at around noon on Saturday when a woman using a stall in the mall’s washroom noticed a cellphone being held above her from the neighboring stall, reports said. The woman ran out of the washroom and yelled to her husband to help her, after which the suspect – who was dressed as a woman – attempted to flee, but was subdued by other men until police