China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) yesterday said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Gao Jyh-peng’s (高志鵬) proposal that Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) be removed as the nation’s founding father is a move aimed at de-sinicization that threatens the “status quo” of peaceful development on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Gao has proposed amendments to the National Emblem and National Flag of the Republic of China Act (中華民國國徽國旗法) and the Oath Act (總統副總統宣誓條例), saying that Sun’s status as founding father was “created” by former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to justify Chiang’s rule.
Taiwan’s heads of state should not be obliged to bow before a figure that is unrelated to Taiwan’s modern democratic society, Gao said.
TAO spokesperson An Fongshan (安峰山) yesterday told a news conference that the office is paying close attention to how the debate is presented in Taiwanese media, adding that such rhetoric threatens peaceful development on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Sun was a revered forebear of China’s modern democratic revolution and his goal of unifying the nation and returning the “Chunghwa people” to a position of power should be respected and revered by all of Chunghwa descent, he said.
Commentators have noted that An did not refer to Sun as a founding father, but merely as Mr Sun.
The TAO has not commented on the DPP’s recent proposal to redraft a proposed bill on monitoring cross-strait agreements in line with the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution, by changing the terms “Taiwan” and “China” to the “Taiwan Area” and “Mainland Area.”
Taiwan and China are part of “one China,” and cross-strait relations are not on a nation-to-nation basis, An said, adding that China’s stance on Taiwanese independence has not changed and China’s interaction with Taiwan would continue to be based on the “one China” principle.
Thirty-five earthquakes have exceeded 5.5 on the Richter scale so far this year, the most in 14 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said on Facebook on Thursday. A large earthquake in Hualien County on April 3 released five times as much the energy as the 921 Earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, the agency said in its latest earthquake report for this year. Hualien County has had the most national earthquake alerts so far this year at 64, with Yilan County second with 23 and Changhua County third with nine, the agency said. The April 3 earthquake was what caused the increase in
INTIMIDATION: In addition to the likely military drills near Taiwan, China has also been waging a disinformation campaign to sow division between Taiwan and the US Beijing is poised to encircle Taiwan proper in military exercise “Joint Sword-2024C,” starting today or tomorrow, as President William Lai (賴清德) returns from his visit to diplomatic allies in the Pacific, a national security official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said that multiple intelligence sources showed that China is “highly likely” to launch new drills around Taiwan. Although the drills’ scale is unknown, there is little doubt that they are part of the military activities China initiated before Lai’s departure, they said. Beijing at the same time is conducting information warfare by fanning skepticism of the US and
DEFENSE: This month’s shipment of 38 modern M1A2T tanks would begin to replace the US-made M60A3 and indigenous CM11 tanks, whose designs date to the 1980s The M1A2T tanks that Taiwan expects to take delivery of later this month are to spark a “qualitative leap” in the operational capabilities of the nation’s armored forces, a retired general told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview published yesterday. On Tuesday, the army in a statement said it anticipates receiving the first batch of 38 M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks from the US, out of 108 tanks ordered, in the coming weeks. The M1 Abrams main battle tank is a generation ahead of the Taiwanese army’s US-made M60A3 and indigenously developed CM11 tanks, which have
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is unlikely to attempt an invasion of Taiwan during US president-elect Donald Trump’s time in office, Taiwanese and foreign academics said on Friday. Trump is set to begin his second term early next year. Xi’s ambition to establish China as a “true world power” has intensified over the years, but he would not initiate an invasion of Taiwan “in the near future,” as his top priority is to maintain the regime and his power, not unification, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University distinguished visiting professor and contemporary Chinese politics expert Akio Takahara said. Takahara made the comment at a
RSS