Independence advocates yesterday rallied outside the cordoned-off area for the Double Ten National Day celebration around the Presidential Office Building, urging the government to normalize diplomatic relations with the US and draft a new constitution.
Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) called on President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to not betray the majority of Taiwanese who hope that Taiwan achieves normal nationhood and the name “Republic of China (ROC)” will be dropped.
“Our government must rectify the official name from ROC to Taiwan, because the ROC was the military dictatorship of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), erected after it lost the Chinese Civil War and illegally occupied Taiwan,” Chen said. “We must distance ourselves from this outdated regime, and then Taiwanese and their government can start anew and forge diplomatic relations with other countries.”
Photo: CNA
Referring to the establishment of the Taiwan Representative Office in Somaliland last month, Taiwan Independence Party Chairman Peter Ku (古文發) said: “This should be the model for our government when setting up and naming foreign diplomatic offices, and establishing formal ties with other democratic nations.”
Chen Chi-yao (陳祺曜), a member of a pro-independence youth group, said it is also important to draft a new constitution, as the current one originates in China and was imposed by the KMT without popular consent, adding that the Constitution does not represent Taiwanese, nor does it reflect the current political and social realities.
“A new constitution must clearly state that Taiwan neither belongs to the ROC nor to the People’s Republic of China, and that Taiwanese aspire for their nation to be a normal, independent, sovereign and democratic country recognized around the world,” he said.
Chilly Chen said that it is a critical time, because China has been increasingly making hostile moves toward Taiwan and threatens to go to war against numerous democratic countries.
“US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that if China attacks Taiwan, the US will do everything it can to reduce tension in the region and fulfill its commitments to Taiwan,” he said. “This is the right time to go for independence and establish formal relations with other democratic countries.”
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
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More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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