The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) called on China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) to have empathy with the nation’s citizens and scale down its political posturing due to the recent typhoons.
Both sides should take an equal share in maintaining the stability of cross-strait relations and their peaceful development, DPP spokesman Ruan Jhao-hsyung (阮昭雄) said.
The DPP has worked to maintain the “status quo” and be practical about its cross-strait policy, encouraging positive interaction to deepen mutual understanding and trust, Ruan said.
Ruan called on Beijing to cherish the results of more than two decades of interaction and to return to the negotiating table to maintain the peaceful and stable development of relations.
Ruan’s comments were aimed at TAO spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光), who earlier yesterday, when asked about how China sees the DPP’s as the party celebrated its 30th anniversary and what expectations Beijing has of it, said that the DPP was well known for embracing a pro-independence viewpoint, which undermines the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.
The party has continually fanned anti-Chinese sentiment, sought to prevent cross-strait interaction and has been the primary cause for the serious setback in relations, which has harmed the interests of our Taiwanese brethren, Ma said.
As long as the DPP clings to its pro-independence ideals it would be difficult to find a way to advance relations, he said, adding that such sentiments were fated to fail.
Ruan said that the DPP’s foundation was a significant step in the democratization of the nation.
“Thirty years ago this day, we gathered together the will and determination of the Taiwanese people to found our party, and the values then — to reform and seek advancement — have not changed,” Ruan said. “The DPP always stands with the people.”
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. A single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 800,000 to 400,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, sabre-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
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