The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday called on Beijing to engage in dialogue with Taipei to preserve regional peace and stability after Beijing announced two days of military exercises around Taiwan, while the two main opposition parties called the drills intolerable.
China’s military exercises only demonstrate its authoritarian form of government, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) said, calling Beijing the “real troublemaker.”
Despite the international community’s focus on Taiwan, Beijing still announced “punishment” drills, showing that it is attempting to wreck the “status quo,” Wu said.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
“Beijing is using the threat of war to undermine peace — an authoritarian government seeking to subvert democracy,” he said, calling on the Chinese government to halt its “unjustified actions.”
Taipei is willing to have constructive dialogue under the principles of equality and mutual respect, he added.
“China must face the reality of the existence of the Republic of China in Taiwan and must respect the choice of leaders through election by popular vote,” Wu said. “Both sides should engage in dialogue instead of confrontation.”
Separately, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) called on China to avoid escalating tensions.
“We strongly urge the mainland Chinese government to exercise restraint, avoid escalating tensions and cherish the achievements of peaceful development [across the Taiwan Strait],” Chu wrote on Facebook. “It is imperative to jointly maintain regional stability.”
“We must remind the mainland that the mainstream public opinion in Taiwan opposes any attempts to change the status quo by force,” he wrote. “The erroneous signals sent by the drills have already harmed the prospects for a peaceful cross-strait development.”
Chu also called on President William Lai (賴清德) and his national security team to present pragmatic and effective methods to deal with such a contingency.
He reiterated the KMT’s “2D” national security strategy to enhance national defense and engage in cross-strait dialogue.
The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) in a news release said that China was interfering in Taiwan’s democracy and infringing against its sovereignty, and called for an end to the intimidation tactics.
“In facing its hostile military actions and propaganda campaign, Taiwanese society must become more mature, in using the ‘resilient society’ to face these challenges,” the party said. “The TPP is insistent on basing interactions on principles of mutual awareness, mutual understanding, mutual respect and mutual cooperation in dealing with these challenges.”
“We shall engage in interaction to reduce hostilities, misjudgement and the chance of erroneous shots fired, thereby creating an environment for peace,” it said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RSS