Pro-independence supporters led by former president Lee Teng-hui (
The activists are upset with President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration speech, in which he backed away from a pledge to create a new constitution, opting instead to amend the existing Constitution.
Ng Chiau-tong (
Ng said Lee had agreed to organize the campaign, while Examination Yuan President Yao Chia-wen (
Chen has said he did not backtrack from his constitutional reform plan and merely treated it with caution to take into account various interests. But Ng said drafting a new constitution is needed to specify Taiwan's independent status.
Ng said the campaign is a private effort and "has nothing to do with Chen's ideas."
Legislative discord
Criticizing Chen's plan to amend the constitution through the existing legislative process, in which 75 percent of lawmakers have to approve amendments, Ng said, "Basically it's impossible to get three fourths of the legislative body to agree on the amendment."
Ng said that what Chen wants to change through constitutional amendments, such as whether the country should have a three-branch or five-branch system or whether to adopt a presidential or parliamentary system, are just minor problems. The most important issue is whether the sovereignty issue is addressed, according to Ng.
"What we want is to create a new constitution through a referendum and we hope that sovereignty issues, such as the scope of Taiwan's territory, will be addressed. [It should state] that Taiwan's territory is Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu," Ng said.
Ng said the title "Republic of China (ROC)" only isolates Taiwan in the international community and that country must change its name to "Taiwan."
National territory
He said if it is too much trouble to tackle the controversial sovereignty issue in the constitutional reform project, the section of the Constitution dealing with national territory should be dropped.
"Japan does not mention its territory in its constitution, nor does the US, so we could also do without it," Ng said.
Ng dismissed Chen's inauguration remarks in which he said issues related to national sovereignty, territory and unification versus independence, on which the public has yet to reach a consensus, be dropped from the constitutional re-engineering project, saying the pro-independence campaign will promote a social consensus.
He said the campaign will be conducted both domestically and internationally.
Based on the organization of the Hand-in-Hand Taiwan Alliance, which created a 2-million person human chain on Feb. 28, Ng said, seminars and discussions will be held across the country and efforts to gain international media attention and foreign support would also be made.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
RSS