The Republic of China (ROC) Constitution allows no possibility of Taiwanese independence, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential hopeful Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said yesterday, when asked whether she would take a more radical approach to pushing for cross-strait unification.
“You can look at the ROC Constitution. Does it allow for Taiwanese independence?” the deputy legislative speaker told reporters, when she was asked for her views on media commentaries that said she would accelerate the process of unification if she wins the presidential election in January.
Cross-strait policy under any administration must respect the Constitution, Hung said, adding that even Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington earlier this month that she would handle cross-strait relations in accordance with the ROC Constitution.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The beginning of the Additional Article of the Constitution states that any articles that are added to or amended in the Constitution are to “meet the requisites of the nation prior to national unification,” Hung said.
That clearly shows the ROC Constitution is based on the “one China” principle, she added.
Hung said that what worries Taiwanese is the prospect of unification taking place on China’s terms, because China wishes to apply its “one country, two systems” formula in the unification of Taiwan, while Taiwan wants to see a unified China characterized by freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
Hung again pledged to sign a peace treaty with China if she is elected president, saying the idea had been proposed in the past by former presidents Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) as well as President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). She added that Tsai helped formulate Chen’s proposal when she served as Mainland Affairs Council minister.
“I did not invent the idea. They did not follow through with it, probably because it aroused some suspicion among the public, but if the idea is in the interests of Taiwan, we should make it clear to the public,” Hung said.
She added that signing a cross-strait peace treaty is consistent with the so-called “1992 consensus,” referring to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
“There is no difference between the two. What we need to think about is whether we should take a step further into the ‘deep-water zone’ beyond the ‘1992 consensus’ and whether we should try to make a breakthrough in cross-strait relations or whether we would rather stay where we are now,” Hung said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to