On the eve of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, MAC Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) reminded Lien and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) that only the government has the right to negotiate with the Chinese authorities.
Wu said that according to the law, political parties cannot sign agreements of any form with China.
"It is also improper for them to reach verbal deals with China," he warned. "They may break the law if they do so."
Political parties, Wu explained, are different from civic groups in nature; therefore, their leaders' trips to China are not the same as exchanges between unofficial groups from China and Taiwan.
Political parties should keep their activities within acceptable boundaries and understand what their responsibilities are to the nation and the Taiwanese people.
"They are not only responsible for their party members or their own personal status in history," Wu added.
In the "Anti-Secession" Law that it enacted last month, Beijing lowered the status of Taiwan to that of a local government and authorized the use of "non-peaceful" means against Taiwan's 23 million people, Wu said.
He urged Lien and Soong to inform the Chinese authorities of true feelings of the Taiwanese people, who "strongly oppose China's passage of the Anti-Secession Law."
A number of polls have proven that dislike of the Chinese law is widespread among the Taiwanese people, Wu said.
The two chairmen, Wu added, should remind Beijing that the Republic of China (ROC) is a sovereign country and that different governments control the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
"Only Taiwan's 23 million people have the rights to decide any change of the future of the ROC. [The chairmen] should make these points clear to the Chinese leaders. This is their responsibility as leaders of political parties," Wu said.
He repeated that the government wants to normalize cross-strait exchanges in order to increase mutual understanding between the two sides.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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