Several pro-unification advocates yesterday urged Taiwan’s major political parties to stop reacting to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) calls for unification with fear and passiveness, saying that the nation should submit its own version of the “one country, two systems” formula.
Ger Yeong-kuang (葛永光), who is director-general of the Grand Alliance for China’s Reunification Under the Three Principles of the People, said it was a shame that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party responded to Xi’s remarks on Wednesday with a passive attitude.
“In his speech, Xi talked about plans to explore the issue of peaceful unification and a Taiwan version of the one country, two systems formula. Exploration is the emphasis of his remarks, which means his proposals are open to discussions ... even the two systems concept,” Ger told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo:Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
While the “one country, two systems” model implemented in Hong Kong places the special administrative region in a subordinate position to Beijing, Ger said that he seeks equality: a cross-strait “merger, rather than an acquisition.”
A system where both sides of the Taiwan Strait unify under a federal system — which could be called the “United States of Zhonghua” or the “United States of China” — would have the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China assigned appellations of equal status, Ger said.
Zhonghua (中華) is short for Zhonghua minzu (中華民族), which generally refers to people of Chinese ethnicity.
“Such a system would be similar to the one country, two systems concept and we should have our own interpretation of what the two systems should be like,” he said, adding that Taiwanese did not need to fear unification talks.
Alliance secretary-general Lin Chung-shan (林忠山) said it was time that Taiwan stepped out of the conundrum of whether to acknowledge the so-called “1992 consensus” and move toward the process of peaceful cross-strait unification.
The alliance plans to collaborate with two other pro-unification groups to organize eight events before August that would invite people from different political parties and sectors of society to explore the best plan for unification, Lin said.
The events could be in the form of seminars, speeches or forums, Lin said, adding that six would be held in the special municipalities, with the other two planned for eastern Taiwan and one in the outlying counties.
Asked whether unification was a long way from mainstream public opinion, Lin said polls have shown that 40 percent of the nation’s young people would be willing to study or work in China, which indicates there is a tendency for people to think about unification, but not talk about it.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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