As a taxpayer, I would very much like to know whether there is a specific person in Taiwan in charge of correcting and responding to the statements, news and announcements broadcast on the official Web site of China's Taiwan Affairs Office. If not, I strongly insist on building a mechanism to do this. If there's already someone in a position paid to do such things, we'd like for him or her to do the job -- if not well, at least not this errantly.
After the media reports on Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) visit in China, there is a rosy picture of the China-Taiwan relations, which were devastated by the "Anti-Secession" Law. Two of the headlines were "CPC [Chinese Communist Party] Taiwan Work Office, KMT delegation hold talks" and "Top adviser calls for earlier reunification." I exerted all my efforts trying to find the relevant statement by our officials to correct these deliberate distortions. But to no avail -- there was no coverage at all.
We all know how difficult it is to battle with China in the global arena -- politically, economically and diplomatically. But is having people do their job too much to ask? All we want is our own statement from an equal level, such as an official institution, to clear up this intentional ambiguity.
Tell me, what's wrong with our national apparatus? Why isn't our national apparatus working, while China is distributing messages and news that jeopardizes our existence, both in the present and future? There is no equivalent clarification while China is foisting its nebulous language on the international arena. We want our own statements to also be heard in the international arena.
Looking at the political spectrum in Taiwan, we know there are plenty of different opinions in Taiwan's political climate. Despite having different standpoints and ideas, we respect the right of free speech! However we can't be deprived of our own right of speech by someone who poses as being a delegation on our behalf. Lien stands for his own party and the advocates of the party -- no more, no less. That's only one of the colors of the spectrum.
Lien was appointed by no one! We don't want to be represented by Lien, who is nothing but a chairperson of a party. The people of Taiwan, will never put our trust in him. He is not there to communicate the will of the people in Taiwan nor the message of "earlier reunification."
Rudy Chen
Belgium
As Taiwan’s domestic political crisis deepens, the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have proposed gutting the country’s national spending, with steep cuts to the critical foreign and defense ministries. While the blue-white coalition alleges that it is merely responding to voters’ concerns about corruption and mismanagement, of which there certainly has been plenty under Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and KMT-led governments, the rationales for their proposed spending cuts lay bare the incoherent foreign policy of the KMT-led coalition. Introduced on the eve of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the KMT’s proposed budget is a terrible opening
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
“I compare the Communist Party to my mother,” sings a student at a boarding school in a Tibetan region of China’s Qinghai province. “If faith has a color,” others at a different school sing, “it would surely be Chinese red.” In a major story for the New York Times this month, Chris Buckley wrote about the forced placement of hundreds of thousands of Tibetan children in boarding schools, where many suffer physical and psychological abuse. Separating these children from their families, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to substitute itself for their parents and for their religion. Buckley’s reporting is
Last week, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), together holding more than half of the legislative seats, cut about NT$94 billion (US$2.85 billion) from the yearly budget. The cuts include 60 percent of the government’s advertising budget, 10 percent of administrative expenses, 3 percent of the military budget, and 60 percent of the international travel, overseas education and training allowances. In addition, the two parties have proposed freezing the budgets of many ministries and departments, including NT$1.8 billion from the Ministry of National Defense’s Indigenous Defense Submarine program — 90 percent of the program’s proposed