The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday reiterated its stance on protecting the nation’s democracy as it responded to the resignation of a campaign spokeswoman over a controversial remark about unification with China.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) former re-election campaign spokeswoman, Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀), resigned on Friday after she came under fire for saying in an interview with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle on Thursday that, in terms of national sovereignty, proposing unification with a hostile power such as China constitutes “treason.”
The remarks were seen as highly controversial, coming just days after the DPP rammed an anti-infiltration law through the Legislature on Dec. 31 that criminalizes political activities backed by hostile foreign forces such as China.
Photo: Su Fun-her, Taipei Times
Lin said in the interview that China had threatened Taiwan with use of military force, and that legislation passed last year meant there would be consequences for retired military officers who participated in political events in China.
The protection of Taiwan’s democratic systems and its way of life, and the rejection of any scenario in which the Republic of China would cease to exist, such as China’s “one country, two systems” formula, were matters of consensus among the nation’s 23 million people, the DPP said yesterday.
The DPP has walked hand-in-hand with Taiwanese for 30 years, fighting for political transformation, freedom from the one-party, authoritarian regime of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and the establishment of a country free of fear, the DPP said.
Having become a mature democracy where freedom of speech is protected by law, Taiwan would not return to a period of “white terror,” it said.
The DPP’s passage last year of the Resolution on a Shared Journey With Society (社會同行世代共贏決議文) was in the spirit of the party’s 1999 Resolution on Taiwan’s Future (台灣前途決議文), and reiterated its stance on national reform and the nation’s self-determination, it said.
No party, including the DPP, could make decisions on behalf of the public, it said.
Separately, Tsai said on Facebook that democracy has always been the party’s core value, and that it had never viewed differing political views as treasonous.
“Let me clearly state that our nation’s name is the Republic of China, and the sovereignty of that nation is in the hands of its 23 million people. Therefore, there is no issue involving the renaming of the country,” Tsai said.
Her most important responsibility as president is the defense of the nation’s sovereignty, freedoms and democratic way of life, she said.
Additional reporting by CNA
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to