The Taiwan Statebuilding Party yesterday proposed constitutional amendments to clearly distinguish Taiwan and China as separate countries, and remove the goal of unification from the Constitution.
Taiwan Statebuilding Party Legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) said that the Constitution does not reflect the current reality and perpetuates a political deceit, as it divides the Republic of China (ROC) into a “free area,” which is Taiwan and its outlying islands, and a “mainland area.”
“The ROC government does not control China, and this falsehood that it represents China is still being claimed by politicians, and remains part of the school curriculum, which is teaching lies to our kids,” he said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
“I also support the ‘one China policy’ because there is a country called China, and another country called Taiwan,” he said. “This is why we need these amendments, to have a constitution for Taiwan, because like the majority of our citizens, I identify as Taiwanese, not Chinese.”
The party’s proposal focuses on five alterations to the Constitution, with the first to change the nation’s stated aim of “unifying the country” to creating a consensus among citizens for the “eventual establishment of a Taiwanese republic through a new constitution.”
Second, the “additional articles of the Constitution” should clearly define the “free area” as “Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and the outlying islands under Taiwan’s governance.”
Third, the “mainland area” should explicitly be defined as the People’s Republic of China, they said.
Fourth, the president should be required to report to the legislature every three years, to assess and address any need for constitutional amendments, and the legislature would be mandated with initiating the amendment process.
Last, the new constitution must require the government to push for transitional justice, they said.
“Right now, more than 80 percent of our citizens identify themselves as Taiwanese. This is why our party wants to help create a new constitution, to closely conform to people’s core values,” Taiwan Statebuilding Party Chairman Chen Yi-chi (陳奕齊) said.
In many of the nation’s laws, the terms that define “free area” and “mainland area” are imprecise and open to interpretation, Chen said.
“But today with people identifying with Taiwan, and seeing China as a hostile country whose military aggression is threatening Taiwan’s existence, we must rewrite these definitions to clarify these terms,” he added.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS