Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) is pandering to Beijing and would like to see Taiwan capitulate in a potential war with China, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) said yesterday.
Lin made the remarks in a Yahoo TV show hosted by political commentator Wang Shi-chi (王時齊).
Lin said Ko’s views on defense show he is a “defeatist” and his advocacy for appeasement shows that he thinks Taiwan should surrender if war breaks out with China.
Photo: CNA
Wang said Ko’s views were exemplified by him last week telling the Taipei City Council that the “goal is to safeguard Taiwan, but in doing so, there is no need to go against China. We do not have to link the two together.”
“When we go against China, how can we safeguard Taiwan? That is the question mark for me,” Ko told councilors in a question-and-answer session.
“Taiwanese should do things that enable people in China to like us. That is the highest goal. If they do not like us, then we will have trouble... The two sides [of the Taiwan Strait] should hold talks, it is better for happiness as members of one big family,” Ko said.
Lin said Ko is trying to promote the idea that defending Taiwan against China is useless and Taiwanese should instead accept that they are members of the Chinese family.
Ko is also a proponent of the so-called “1992 consensus,” Lin said.
The so-called “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
In Ko’s version, that means calling for capitulation to China, Lin said.
“Taiwan belongs to the world, and we are among the world’s democratic nations, willing to advance collaboration with the international community,” Lin said.
DPP Lienchiang County commissioner candidate Lii Wen (李問) said that despite Lienchiang residents having a front-row view on Chinese live-fire drills last month, they were unimpressed.
“People have no fear, and the drills had little effect on their daily lives. Tourism and other sectors of the local economy are operating as normal,” he said.
They are more concerned about China’s “gray-zone” warfare, including Chinese boats dredging sand and illegally fishing near Matsu, he said.
There had been confrontations between Chinese boats and local fishers, he added.
This story has been amended since it was first published.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS