Leaders of an alliance of Taiwanese independence organizations yesterday accused China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪), of lying, as they asserted Taiwan’s sovereign status.
During the first high-level talks on March 18 in Anchorage, Alaska, between US and Chinese officials since US President Joe Biden took office, Yang, director of the Chinese Central Foreign Affairs Commission, said that “Xinjiang, Tibet and Taiwan are all inseparable parts of China’s territory,” adding that Washington has no right to interfere in matters that Beijing considers its internal affairs.
“Yang’s words are an utter fallacy. His speech was full of deceit,” Northern Taiwan Society chairman Lee Chuan-hsin (李川信) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“China’s ruse is to repeat the same lies many times, in the hope that people would believe them and that they would become the truth. That is why Chinese officials are continuing with their global propaganda that Taiwan is part of China,” Asia-Pacific Liberal Women Association chairwoman Yang Huang Maysing (楊黃美幸) said.
The People’s Republic of China has never ruled Taiwan, and Taiwanese have never been its subjects like Chinese citizens, Formosa Republican Association director Tommy Lin (林逸民) said.
Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy director Chang Yu-meng (張育萌) and a group of student representatives also took part at the news conference.
“The Taiwanese youth are not afraid of the Chinese dictatorship. We will not back down in defense of Taiwan’s sovereignty, freedom and democratic way of life,” Chang said.
“Most people here identify as Taiwanese, so when China becomes aggressive and threatens Taiwan, people here are not afraid,” he added.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe