Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) yesterday accused former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) office of “setting up [KMT Chairwoman] Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱)” by spreading a rumor that she thumbed her nose at Ma.
Tsai yesterday denied a news report saying KMT Vice Chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) claimed Hung would not mention “one China, different interpretations,” but rather focus on the KMT’s recently passed policy platform that aims to “further” the so-called “1992 consensus” and on signing a peace agreement with Beijing during her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Tuesday next week.
Tsai quoted Chan as saying that he has not taken part in writing the speech for Hung’s meeting with Xi and has not spoken to the media regarding what Hung would say during the meeting.
The Chinese-language China Times reported that Ma’s office released a statement on Thursday, saying that the “1992 consensus” and “one China, different interpretations” are not only a cross-strait consensus, but also a “Taiwanese consensus,” in response to Chan’s remarks.
Tsai said he wondered why the falsified remarks were put in the same piece with the statement from Ma’s office, adding that he suspects that the untrue remarks said to be Chan’s “were actually spread by Ma’s office.”
Tsai called on the office to refrain from opening unnecessary battlegrounds and be more discreet.
“I hope that Ma could keep an eye on his office personnel and restrict them from sending groundless information to the media,” he said.
Tsai also commented on media reports, which he said were based on information provided by Ma’s office alleging that Hung deliberately put on makeup when Ma was talking about his approach to the “1992 consensus” during a dinner on Monday night.
Tsai said Hung was simply putting on lipstick because she was about to leave the gathering and meet the media outside, and Ma’s office intentionally interpreted the move as a show of disrespect to Ma, in a bid to “try to set Hung up.”
Ma’s office released another statement yesterday afternoon saying that the statement issued on Thursday was in response to the “baseless allegation that Ma did not bring up ‘one China, different interpretations’ during his meeting with Xi in November last year.”
Denying that the statement had anything to do with the China Times report Tsai referred to, the office asked Tsai to “stop making unsubstantiated accusations.”
The row between Tsai and Ma’s office began after a meeting between Ma and KMT leadership, including Hung, on Monday night.
Ma allegedly urged KMT members to repeat the whole phrase as often as possible, since it would be okay if he did not mention “one China, different interpretations” when referring to the “1992 consensus,” but it would be a problem for “someone” to simply refer to the consensus without bringing up ‘one China, different interpretations.’”
It was understood that Ma was implicitly disapproving of the “one China, same interpretation” framework endorsed by Hung.
Tsai has since then publicly taking issue with Ma’s office, saying it is not up to Ma to decide what the KMT’s policy should be and calling the office an “agency without legal foundation.”
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
RSS