President Chen Shui-bian (
"By the time I complete my presidency in 2008, I hope to hand to the people of Taiwan and to our country a new version of our Constitution -- one that is timely, relevant and viable. This is my historic responsibility and my commitment to the people," Chen said.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"I am fully aware that consensus has yet to be reached on issues related to national sovereignty, territory and the subject of unification/independence; therefore, let me explicitly propose that these particular issues be excluded from the present constitutional re-engineering project," he said.
The inauguration ceremony began in rainy weather at 9am at the Presidential Office.
Supervised by Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng (
After signing the official documents appointing Premier Yu Shyi-kun, Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), Chen received foreign delegations and accepted their congratulations.
In his inaugural speech, "Paving the Way for a Sustainable Taiwan," Chen sought to reduce tensions with China and to reassure the US that his plans for a new constitution would not stir up trouble.
Chen said the first step is to have the legislature pass a constitutional amendment, something he said during the election campaign he wouldn't do.
"Accordingly, after the passage by the legislature, members of the first and also the last Ad Hoc National Assembly will be elected and charged with the task of adopting the constitutional reform proposal as passed by the legislature, abolishing the National Assembly, and incorporating into the Constitution the people's right to referendum on constitutional revision," Chen said.
As to the future of cross-strait relations, Chen expressed "understanding" toward Beijing's "one China" principle -- something the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has never done -- and said an environment of peaceful development and freedom of choice would allow the two sides to seek to establish relations in any form.
"We can understand why the government on the other side of the Strait, in light of historical complexities and ethnic sentiments, cannot relinquish the insistence on the `one China' principle," Chen said. "By the same token, the Beijing authorities must understand the deep conviction held by the people of Taiwan to strive for democracy, to love peace, to pursue their dreams free from threat, and, to embrace progress," he said.
Noting that Taiwan is a free and democratic society, Chen said neither an individual nor a political party alone can make the ultimate choice for the people.
"We should not exclude any possibilities, so long as there is the consent of the 23 million people of Taiwan," Chen said.
He urged both sides to establish a dynamic "peace and stability framework" for interactions.
To express his goodwill to maintain stability in cross-strait affairs, Chen, while not directly reiterating the "five noes" made in his 2000 inauguration speech, said he would follow the promises and principles set forth in 2000.
"Those commitments have been honored -- they have not changed over the past four years, nor will they change in the next four years," Chen said.
He also reaffirmed his resolution to establish a committee that would gather input from all parties and the public to draft guidelines for cross-strait peace and development.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS