Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday criticized the implementation of China’s “one country, two systems” formula in Hong Kong and urged Taiwanese to work together to protect the nation.
“Even beggars would run away” if the formula were implemented in Taiwan in the same manner as it is being executed in Hong Kong, Ko said during a question-and-answer session at the Taipei City Council.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chiang Chih-ming (江志銘) said that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former premier William Lai (賴清德), who have registered as candidates for the DPP’s presidential primary, have both promised to “protect the nation.”
Photo: CNA
It is speculated that Ko will announce a presidential bid, Chiang said and asked him to clarify his stance on protecting Taiwan.
“Even a beggar should protect Taiwan, not only the president, because protecting Taiwan is everyone’s responsibility,” Ko said.
Chiang said the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) potential presidential candidates have expressed their opinions about the “one country, two systems” framework and the so-called “1992 consensus,” and asked the mayor to explain his views.
Ko said the terms have become mere labels in Taiwan and that no one understands what the “1992 consensus” really means.
“If the ‘one country, two systems’ formula [intended for Taiwan] is like the ‘Hong Kong model,’ then everyone would run away,” he said, adding that China has to explain what it means.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Chen Yi-chun (陳怡君) asked Ko to comment on Chinese Minister of National Defense General Wei Fenghe’s (魏鳳和) remark on Sunday that the Chinese military would fight at all costs if anyone dared to “split Taiwan from China” and that the Tiananmen Square Massacre 30 years ago was the “correct” decision to ensure stability.
The massacre is “a tragedy in China’s modern history involving Chinese killing Chinese,” Ko said, adding: “We need to strengthen our national defense, because the more Wei speaks about it, the more Taiwanese are afraid.”
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to
RSS