A high-tech tycoon will debate his vision of legislation for cross-strait "peaceful coexistence" on Saturday.
Robert Tsao (
Tsao recently ran two front-page ads in local newspapers suggesting that DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
The ads sparked a heated debate, with President Chen Shui-bian (
The ad claimed that the proposed law would resolve the cross-strait issue once and for all and end the political wrangling over the independence-unification issue.
Tsao said the law should rule out a referendum on independence because that would be contrary to the nation's claim that it is already an independent and sovereign state.
He said the "independence" he mentions, like the DPP's major "resolution on Taiwan's future" of 1999, refers to "de facto independence" and Taiwan's "status quo" -- not the "de jure independence," which he said will cause unnecessary concern and tension.
China's "Anti-Secession" Law, enacted in March 2005, stipulates that "non-peaceful means" will be used if Taiwan moves toward de jure independence.
Tsao also said Taiwan must not instigate a referendum on unification, because such a move would polarize the Taiwanese -- unless China ordered such a step. If China wanted a referendum on the issue, he said, it would have to explain in detail any substantive measures it would implement to provide a high degree of autonomy to Taiwan, and the rights and obligations of Taiwanese after unification to solicit their support.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
EVERYONE’S ISSUE: Kim said that during a visit to Taiwan, she asked what would happen if China attacked, and was told that the global economy would shut down Taiwan is critical to the global economy, and its defense is a “here and now” issue, US Representative Young Kim said during a roundtable talk on Taiwan-US relations on Friday. Kim, who serves on the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, held a roundtable talk titled “Global Ties, Local Impact: Why Taiwan Matters for California,” at Santiago Canyon College in Orange County, California. “Despite its small size and long distance from us, Taiwan’s cultural and economic importance is felt across our communities,” Kim said during her opening remarks. Stanford University researcher and lecturer Lanhee Chen (陳仁宜), lawyer Lin Ching-chi
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back
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