The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) today said it has accepted President William Lai’s (賴清德) invitation for a national security briefing at the Presidential Office on Wednesday, while the Taiwan People’s Party has not confirmed its attendance.
Last week, the Presidential Office invited KMT chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and TPP chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), to an in-depth briefing with the Ministry of National Defense, Mainland Affairs Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Security Bureau.
KMT Secretary-General Justin Huang (黃健庭) said he had spoken to Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) on Sunday, and that Chu was optimistic about a potential meeting.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said the invitation was a show of goodwill and expressed her hope that it would mark a step toward unifying the opposition and ruling parties.
The meeting is a genuine invitation to share Taiwan’s national security situation with the opposition parties and gather support for taking necessary steps to improve Taiwan’s resilience, Wu added.
The KMT caucus told a news conference today that although the president’s motives are not yet clear, the party is willing to go into the meeting with “an open mind,” seeking to have a substantive discussion with the ruling party.
KMT Legislator Ko Ju-chun (葛如鈞) called on the DPP to stop its “two-faced” tactics by calling for unity with the opposition while also pushing for mass recall campaigns.
The first 30 minutes of the meeting, during which Lai would speak, would be open to the public, while the national security briefing and subsequent discussion would be closed-door, TPP Secretary-General Chou Yu-hsiu (周榆修) said.
The meeting’s format makes it seem like the opposition leaders would be listening to a report, Huang said, adding that he hopes for direct communication with the president.
Huang has not confirmed his attendance.
This is an important step for cross-party discussions, and although he is happy to listen to the president, the public expects a two-way dialogue, Huang said.
The lack of details provided prior to the meeting makes him wonder whether it might only lead to further political debates and power struggles, rather than positive exchanges, Huang added.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
RSS