The two sides of the Taiwan Strait in their interactions should respect Sun Yat-sen’s (孫逸仙) founding of the Republic of China (ROC) 110 [sic] years ago, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday.
Chu made the remarks at a flag-raising ceremony at the KMT headquarters in Taipei to mark Double Ten National Day.
Over the past 110 years, the ROC has remained unshakable in the midst of turmoil, said Chu, who assumed the role of KMT chairman on Tuesday last week.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
“From establishing the Republic of China to defending Taiwan and building Taiwan, the KMT has always stood at the forefront of the people and worked hard for this land,” he said. “We are the political party that loves the Republic of China and Taiwan the most.”
“We will always be believers” of Sun, he said, adding that whether in Taiwan, at home or abroad, all Sun’s believers “must defend the Republic of China, safeguard our freedom and democracy, and firmly guard the peace and prosperity that all our people expect.”
“Both sides of the Strait should uphold this spirit,” he said, adding that the basis of cross-strait relations was seeking common ground while retaining differences of opinion.
It is essential to respect that Sun founded the ROC 110 years ago, he said.
While the ROC was founded on Jan. 1, 1912, it was preceded by the Wuchang Uprising of Oct. 10, 1911.
A responsible ruling party should respect public opinion and defend the ROC, he said.
“Do not distort the history of the Republic of China,” or undermine the efforts past presidents and KMT members, he said.
The ROC is the name of the nation in the Constitution, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said at the event.
Since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office five years ago, the “lead role” — the ROC — seems to have taken a “supporting role” in Double Ten National Day celebrations, he said.
Tsai should apologize for the “disappearance” of the Republic of China, he added.
Ma said that the Chinese Communist Party’s separate references to the “1992 consensus” and its “one China principle” over the past six months is an “important message,” as it implies the two statements are not the same.
This indicates that there is space for each side to seek common ground while maintaining differences of opinion, Ma said.
“I have repeatedly said that the ‘1992 consensus’ and ‘one China interpretations are crucial in maintaining cross-strait peace and prosperity,” Ma said.
The “1992 consensus” — a term that 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 Communist Party.
Additional reporting by CNA
TRICKED INTO MOVING: Local governments in China do not offer any help, and Taiwanese there must compete with Chinese in an unfamiliar setting, a researcher said Beijing’s incentives for Taiwanese businesspeople to invest in China are only intended to lure them across the Taiwan Strait, after which they receive no real support, an expert said on Sunday. Over the past few years, Beijing has been offering a number of incentives that “benefit Taiwanese in name, while benefiting China in reality,” a cross-strait affairs expert said on condition of anonymity. Strategies such as the “31 incentives” are intended to lure Taiwanese talent, capital and technology to help address China’s economic issues while also furthering its “united front” efforts, they said. Local governments in China do not offer much practical
Police have detained a Taoyuan couple suspected of over the past two months colluding with human trafficking rings and employment scammers in Southeast Asia to send nearly 100 Taiwanese jobseekers to Cambodia. At a media briefing in Taipei yesterday, the Criminal Investigation Bureau presented items seized from the couple, including alleged victims’ passports, forged COVID-19 vaccination records, mobile phones, bank documents, checks and cash. The man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and his girlfriend, surnamed Tsan (詹), were taken into custody last month, after police at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport stopped four jobseekers from boarding a flight to Phnom Penh, said Dustin Lee (李泱輯),
BILINGUAL PLAN: The 17 educators were recruited under a program that seeks to empower Taiwanese, the envoy to the Philippines said The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines on Thursday hosted a send-off event for the first group of English-language teachers from the country who were recruited for a Ministry of Education-initiated program to advance bilingual education in Taiwan. The 14 teachers and three teaching assistants are part of the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which aims to help find English-language instructors for Taiwan’s public elementary and junior-high schools, the office said. Seventy-seven teachers and 11 teaching assistants from the Philippines have been hired to teach in Taiwan in the coming school year, office data showed. Among the first group is 57-year-old
PUBLIC POLL: More than half believe Chinese drills would make Taiwanese less willing to unify with China, while 36 percent said an invasion was highly unlikely Half of Taiwanese support independence, according to the results of a poll released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation, which also found that President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) support rating fell by 7 percentage points. Fifty percent of respondents supported independence, 25.7 percent supported maintaining the “status quo” and 11.8 percent supported unification, while 12.1 percent had no opinion, did not know or refused to answer, the foundation said. Support for independence is the new mainstream opinion, regardless of which party is in power, foundation chairman Michael You (游盈隆) said. Insinuations that Taiwan wants to maintain the “status quo” are a fabrication that