Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday said that his party’s presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), in his visit to the US would clearly tell friends in the international community that the KMT is the true defender of the Republic of China (ROC).
Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate, “promotes Taiwanese independence every day,” he said.
Chu’s comments came a day after Lai was quoted by Bloomberg Business as saying in an interview that “Taiwan is already a sovereign, independent country called the Republic of China.”
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
“And in respect to unifying Taiwanese society, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has used the term Republic of China [Taiwan] to describe our country. I will continue to do so in the future,” Lai was quoted as saying. “There are no plans to change the name of our country.”
In response, Chu said in a speech to the KMT Central Standing Committee that the KMT is the true defender of Taiwan’s constitutional order while the DPP has been working toward the formal independence of Taiwan.
“Lai, the golden grandchild of the Taiwanese independence movement and a self-avowed pro-independence politician, has supported Taiwanese independence every day of his life,” Chu said.
“Even Taiwanese independence supporters say that they would vote for Lai so that he can push for independence after taking office,” he added.
Support for Taiwanese independence is in Lai’s genes and he would not change “even if he lied to obtain votes and international support,” Chu said, adding that the KMT is the true guardian of Taiwan and the guarantor of peace in the Taiwan Strait.
Separately, Hou said that Lai in the past characterized himself as a pragmatic politician advocating for Taiwanese independence.
Considering Lai’s previous public comments, his recent claims about not seeking formal independence do not make sense, Hou said.
DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) yesterday slammed Chu in a Facebook post saying that his remarks are indistinguishable from those of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
“Is the KMT chairman lodging a complaint against Lai to Westerners on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party?” he asked.
Chu’s remarks breached the cardinal rule that a politician must put the nation above their private or partisan political interests when speaking to an international audience, Wang said, adding that politicians should refrain from complaining about political opponents to outsiders.
The KMT has achieved “a new low” in sharing Taiwan’s internal political disputes with the nation’s allies in a public manner, Wang said.
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-yu and Lai Hsiao-tung
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to