Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday gave her best wishes to former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who is to depart for China tomorrow on a five-day visit.
Hsieh’s visit has garnered a lot of attention because of his seniority in the DPP, Tsai said in a press release.
“Hopefully, his visit will help consolidate cross-strait relations and move them in a positive direction,” the statement said
Tsai praised Hsieh’s courage in making the trip and called for all parties not to “over interpret” his visit because, since losing the presidential elections in January, the DPP has reached a consensus that it should increase its understanding of China.
The former presidential candidate reiterated that cross-strait engagement should be conducted without preconditions and asserted that the party had been pragmatic in its China policy over the years.
“From the Taiwan Independence Clause through to the 1999 Resolution on Taiwan’s Future, the DPP has always been firm about Taiwan’s sovereignty, but with a pragmatic approach,” she said.
Meanwhile, Tsai outlined her observations about her India, following a recent trip to the South Asian nation, at a press event yesterday afternoon, saying that Taiwan should develop links with the country which could become one of its most important trade and strategic allies in Asia.
Tsai, who visited India for the first time from Sept. 19 to Sept. 28, said the country’s economy is “highly complementary” with Taiwan’s and could be Taiwan’s gateway to Central and Western Asia.
While access to Indian markets would have additional entry costs compared with China, the country — which has a population of 1.22 billion — is worth exploring because of its large markets and democratic history she said.
While reviewing her 10-day trip, Tsai said Taiwan should transform itself from being an inward-looking country — a result of being isolated from the international community for an extended period of time — into an outward-looking nation.
With the US poised to realign its focus toward the Asia-Pacific region, Tsai said that Taiwan should do exactly the same because it has always tended to look to the US, Europe and Japan.
At this turbulent time, Taiwan should re-examine its position in Asia and the relationship it wants to develop with countries in the continent to determine its future direction.
As for China, Taiwan cannot afford to ignore the rising power, but it should also seek a “balance” between engaging its former foe and the rest of the world, Tsai said.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
IN FULL SWING: Recall drives against lawmakers in Hualien, Taoyuan and Hsinchu have reached the second-stage threshold, the campaigners said Campaigners in a recall petition against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) in Taichung yesterday said their signature target is within sight, and that they need a big push to collect about 500 more signatures from locals to reach the second-stage threshold. Recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) are also close to the 10 percent threshold, and campaigners are mounting a final push this week. They need about 800 signatures against Chiang and about 2,000 against Yang. Campaigners seeking to recall Lo said they had reached the threshold figure over the
RSS