Civic groups on Thursday sounded the alarm about a bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) stating that the Chinese Civil War has never ended and would redefine the Taiwan Strait as an “internal sea.”
Taiwan Economic Democracy Union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said the proposal would alter the political situation between Taiwan and China, and blur territorial boundaries.
“It is clear that the KMT is adhering to the Beijing regime’s assertion that ‘Taiwan is an internal Chinese matter’ by trying to establish a legal framework for it,” Lai said.
Photo courtesy of the Ocean Affairs Council
Eighteen KMT and Taiwan People’s Party lawmakers have signed the bill initiated by KMT Legislator Chen Yeong-kang (陳永康) to amend Article 29 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), Lai said.
The change would transfer jurisdiction of the seas around Kinmen and Lienchiang counties from the Ministry of National Defense to the Ocean Affairs Council.
It would also permit local officials in the counties to negotiate directly with the Chinese government on judicial, commercial and administrative issues, potentially even political, Lai said.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said the amendment would deter international assistance to Taiwan by making the waters internal territory instead of international waters, lending credence to Beijing’s claims that cross-strait issues are a domestic matter.
Chen defended the proposal before a legislative meeting yesterday, saying it would transfer the responsibility of patrolling restricted waters near Kinmen and Lienchiang from the defense ministry to the Coast Guard Administration, an agency of the Ocean Affairs Council.
Restricted waters, territorial waters and sovereignty are three separate issues that must not be mixed up in the discussion of the bill, he said.
Since the lifting of martial law, the outlying islands mainly have to deal with law enforcement issues, which are the responsibility of the coast guard, rather than defense of the nation’s borders, which falls under the defense ministry’s purview, he said.
He added that there are only “internal waters” and “international waters” in international law, and there is no such thing as “internal seas.”
Additional reporting by Hsieh Chun-lin and CNA
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS