Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) has criticized the government's controversial decision to drop "China" from the names of state enterprises, warning the move could endanger peace.
Lee questioned the motives of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in a speech on Saturday.
"In order to whip up sentiment of their supporters, [the DPP] have looked to hatred as did the Nazis, fascists and communists ... they brought disaster to the world," Lee said, adding that the measures could cause social unrest.
"The changes should be done step by step and quietly, rather than done while the polls approach," Lee said, in a reference to legislative elections in December and presidential polls next year.
State-run postal, petroleum and shipbuilding companies on Friday decided to drop "China" and add "Taiwan" in their names, despite strong opposition from labor union leadership, who have strong ties to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Following Friday's board meetings, Chunghwa Post Co (
Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) (
The China Shipbuilding Corp (CSBC,
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said that the new names will prevent the firms from being mistaken for Chinese ones.
DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun yesterday said the name change campaign facilitates the development of a national identity. He added that the public's Taiwanese awareness will grow stronger as the people discuss the matter more.
The government's move has touched off strong criticism from both the KMT and Washington, fearing such steps could fire tensions with Beijing.
"We do not support administrative steps by the Taiwan authorities that would appear to change Taiwan's status unilaterally or move toward independence," the State Department said in a statement. "The United States does not, for instance, support changes in terminology for entities administered by the Taiwan authorities."
Yu said it was "inappropriate" for the US to interfere, as the campaign was part of Taiwan's domestic affairs.
KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (
The US has long been under the impression that President Chen Shui-bian's (
Meanwhile, other opposition leaders had harsh words for the DPP regarding the move.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
KMT Taipei branch members expressed concerns about the policy during a meeting with Ma, worrying that the KMT could lose elections to the DPP if it failed to respond to the focus on independence issues.
"It's meaningless to manipulate the issue of localization. Whoever makes contributions to Taiwan is the most `localized,'" Ma told party members at the meeting held at the Taipei International Convention Center.
In response to some party members "concerns that the KMT is too moderate," Ma said the party should continue to play the role of the responsible opposition.
"We will get tough when we have to," he added.
Pan-blue legislators urged their leaders to come up with a plan to deal with the name-change campaign.
"The campaign will gradually lead the country toward independence, which will then bring about economic decay," People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lee Hung-chun (
Lee likened the campaign to China's Cultural Revolution, which killed millions of people.
PFP Legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (
"As the DPP government lacks achievements as well as visions for the country's future, it has to resort to unification-independence issues to win votes," Liu said.
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Analysis: Name changes reflect increasing 'Taiwan identity'
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
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.
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
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