Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Department of International Affairs director Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) recently wrote on her blog about an exchange with a Chinese official late last month in which the official said that the DPP had no future, that Taiwanese independence was a dead-end road and that China had missiles pointed at Taiwan.
In an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) on Friday, Hsiao said the incident took place late last month in Japan, where she attended a banquet for international representatives hosted by the Fukuoka government.
Hsiao said she shared a table at the Kyushu National Museum with Chinese Consul-General Wu Shumin (武樹民) along with officials from the US consulate, Fukuoka officials and representatives from Thailand and Mongolia.
CHEN CHU
After exchanging name cards, Wu learned that Hsiao was a member of the DPP and said in Chinese that “the DPP’s [Kaohsiung Mayor] Chen Chu (陳菊) has already visited China; after [your people] come, you will change your position of supporting Taiwanese independence,” Hsiao said.
Hsiao said she replied that “Chen’s visit to China does not have any effect on our position of supporting Taiwanese independence. If you are willing to move your missiles, I might be more willing to visit.”
She said Wu responded: “What would removing the missiles do? We can hit you even if we pull the missiles all the way back to Beijing. We don’t just have short-range missiles, we have plenty of mid-range missiles too.”
INTERNATIONAL SPACE
Hsiao quoted Wu as saying: “[The DPP] has done its thing for eight years, but didn’t [former president] Chen Shui-bian [陳水扁] end up in jail? What international space? [President] Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九] accepts the one China principle, so we give him international space. The DPP wants independence for Taiwan, and that is a dead-end road. You are not even from an academic field, so what are you doing here? The DPP is a party without a future unless it accepts the one China [principle].”
In response to Wu’s comments, Hsiao said she turned around and translated Wu’s entire statement into English to the foreign representatives who shared a table with them, which she said embarrassed Wu.
DETERMINATION
Hsiao said in the interview with the Liberty Times that when she encountered people like Wu it made her more upset with the Chinese government.
“You could even say that he poured a whole barrel of oil on my fire for Taiwanese independence,” she said. “It only made our will to fight for Taiwan’s democracy and independence stronger.”
The Ma administration’s policy of pursuing a “diplomatic truce” with China has sent a signal that is excessively generous, she said, adding that China was responding by oppressing and insulting Taiwan.
“Ma’s foreign policy is unrealistic,” she said.
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of
RSS