Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
"Entering the UN under the name `Taipei, China' would have a great impact on the nation. We should have confidence in Taiwan as a country and we can't make concessions on the national title," Hsieh said yesterday during a visit to Ilan County.
Hsieh accused Ma of contradicting himself by saying "Taipei, China" would be an acceptable title for a nation. He also challenged Ma's capability to handle diplomatic issues and international crises.
PHOTO: HU CHIEN-SEN, TAIPEI TIMES
What Ma said illustrates the difference between Ma and Hsieh, DPP Legislator Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓) said in a separate setting yesterday, adding that Ma is running for the position of chief executive of Taiwan, a position tantamount to the chief executive of Hong Kong, while Frank Hsieh is running for the presidency.
In response, Ma yesterday rebutted the report that he had said "Taipei, China" was an acceptable name for the nation and said the KMT would not use that name to apply to the UN.
"I was discussing the current diplomatic situation and `Taipei, China' is not my proposal and is not acceptable to me or to others," Ma said during a visit to Pingtung County.
When asked to comment on President Chen Shui-bian's (
These included "Chinese Taipei" for the Olympics and "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" at the WTO and "Taipei, China" during the Asian Development Bank annual meeting in 1986.
"I had mentioned it before in the context of Mainland Chinese delegates having changed the title of our delegates to `Taipei, China,' and our delegates always responding by putting up a plaque with the word `protest' on it although they still participated in the meetings," Ma said.
As the two parties continued to bicker over their UN referendum proposals, Hsieh and DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun yesterday called on the KMT to support the DPP's proposed UN referendum and join forces to push for the country to join the UN under the name "Taiwan."
"The UN referendum bid is important and the whole world is watching. I think the two parties can sit down and discuss the issue," Hsieh said.
"Taiwan is our mother. All of us are living on the same land and of course we should join the UN under the name `Taiwan,'" Yu said.
KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
"There's no way that the KMT will give up promoting the UN referendum bid. We've made it our party's policy and all party members should spare no efforts to support the bid," he said.
Meanwhile, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday called on the KMT and DPP to revoke their UN referendum proposals, which he said were both election schemes.
"The proposed referendums to apply for UN membership or to return to the UN are driven by election ambitions. We should stop doing this," he said.
Later, Wang elaborated on his statement, saying that neither proposal would be good for the long-term development of the nation.
In response to Wang's suggestion, KMT legislative caucus whip Kuo Su-chun (
DPP legislative caucus whip Wang Tuoh (
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