The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday continued its criticism of the Presidential Office’s rejection of former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) application to visit Hong Kong tomorrow, comparing President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Taking to Facebook to vent his discontent, KMT Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) wrote that Tsai Ing-wen has severely damaged the nation’s international image by turning down Ma’s request to visit Hong Kong.
“Ma was originally going to deliver a speech in front of a group of journalists from Time, The Economist, the New York Times, Forbes, Fortune, Bloomberg, the Financial Times, Dow Jones, Barron’s, Reuters and Google,” Alex Tsai said.
These media outlets form the Society of Publishers in Asia in Hong Kong, Alex Tsai said, which has been endeavoring to promote freedom of speech and freedom of the press, as well as to present awards to brave journalists.
“Ma giving a speech at an award ceremony to be held by the society would have been a rare golden opportunity for him to boost Taiwan’s global image. Yet Tsai Ing-wen decided to cite national security concerns as a pretext to ground Ma. What is the difference between the president and the CCP?” Alex Tsai said.
He added that the president’s peremptory move has ignorantly tarnished the nation’s international image.
Alex Tsai made the remarks a day after Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) announced the office’s decision to turn down Ma’s request to attend the group’s Awards for Editorial Excellence ceremony at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre tomorrow, citing national security concerns and the highly sensitive nature of the former leader’s planned destination.
Under the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), former presidents are required to obtain approval for any international travel plans within three years of leaving office and to file such an application 20 days prior to departure.
Meanwhile, former KMT legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) wrote on Facebook that Tsai Ing-wen’s refusal to give the green light to Ma’s trip has sent a clear message to the public, that the pan-green camp intends to trap the former president in Taiwan to launch a political vendetta against him via the media and the judicial system.
Urging members of the pan-blue camp to refrain from distancing themselves from Ma, or gloating over the former president’s humiliation, Chiu said Ma and the KMT now share the same destiny and are in it together, for better or for worse.
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