Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and pro-independence activists yesterday protested against US President Barack Obama after he described Taiwan as an “entity,” reiterating Taiwan’s statehood after a discussion about the nation’s image in mainstream US politics.
“Taiwan is an independent state, not an entity,” Lu said, referring to Obama’s description of Taiwan, adding that Taiwanese are willing to maintain the cross-strait “status quo.”
During the end-of-year White House news conference on Friday last week, the US president said that “China views Taiwan as part of China, but recognizes that it has to approach Taiwan as an entity that has its own ways of doing things.”
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“Taiwanese have agreed that as long as they’re able to continue to function with some degree of autonomy, that they won’t charge forward and declare independence,” he said.
Criticizing Obama’s definition of Taiwan, Lu said Taiwan is not an entity affiliated with China, but an independent state.
In a letter addressed to Obama, Lu wrote that Taiwan, ceded to Japan by the Qing Dynasty, has shaped its statehood and held its first popular presidential election in 1996, while Taiwan-US relations are “special state-to-state relations,” as the US is bound by the Taiwan Relations Act to interact with Taipei.
Taiwanese do not challenge the “one China” principle, but that does not contradict that Taiwan exists as a sovereign state independent of China, the letter said.
Lu and members of the Taiwan Society, the Taiwan United Nations Alliance, World United Formosans for Independence and the 908 Taiwan Republic Campaign signed copies of the letter, which is to be mailed to the American Institute in Taiwan as part of their protest campaign.
They urged the incoming administration of US president-elect Donald Trump to review Taiwan-US relations and recognize Taiwan as a nation.
Meanwhile, praising President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for refusing to acknowledge the so-called “1992 consensus,” Lu urged the government to build a new consensus between the Democratic Progressive Party administration and the Chinese government.
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means. Former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted that he made up the term in 2000.
“How is the president elected this year bound by a ‘consensus’ from 1992? Tsai has to seek national unity and negotiate with China to create a ‘2017 consensus,’” Lu said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
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
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS