Peace is the only foundation of prosperity and the hope for Taiwan’s future, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said yesterday.
The party issued the remarks in response to a government official criticizing KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) upcoming China visit, which has a pre-arranged itinerary decided solely by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Cheng on Monday last week said she has accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit China from tomorrow until Sunday.
Photo: Screen grab from the KMT’s Facebook page
An official, who declined to be named, criticized the requirement for reporters to register with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to cover the trip, adding that even the flight Cheng is to take to China is a Chinese airline.
“From this, it is clear that the Cheng-Xi meeting is inevitably confined within the ‘one China’ framework set by the CCP,” the official said. “How can Taiwan’s Republic of China be protected under such circumstances?”
The KMT said “true strength does not need to be loudly proclaimed; it is shown by providing the people with a sense of stability and security.”
In an artificial intelligence-generated video, the party showed “lying flat” moments — relaxing under the sun, resting with peace of mind, reclining after a run and gazing at the starry sky — to underscore its message that “peace makes it possible to lie flat, and peace is the greatest.”
These ordinary, yet precious “lying flat” moments reflect the party’s unwavering commitment, the KMT said.
“Peace is the only foundation for prosperity and the hope for Taiwan’s future,” it said. “It is so that everyone we care about can continue to enjoy these calm, cherished days in Taiwan. This time, let us stand up for peace.”
Commenting on Cheng not being accompanied by any KMT lawmaker, one party legislator, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was to give everyone a graceful exit.
As for whether the meeting would boost the party’s prospects in the November local elections, the legislator said that could only be judged after Cheng returns.
A KMT county council speaker said on condition of anonymity that the nine-in-one elections primarily focus on local issues, and cross-strait relations are not a major factor.
However, if the Cheng-Xi exchange delivers benefits that the Democratic Progressive Party cannot, it could win voter approval, the official added.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
RSS