Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday blasted the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in another case of the government distributing calendars listing national holidays in China as among those observed in Taiwan, calling these incidents a product of its China-leaning policies and agenda to promote unification.
“From top to bottom, government [officials and workers] under President Ma are not clear about the nation's sovereignty and status,” DPP Legislator Chen Chi-yu (陳啟昱) told a press conference yesterday.
Given the government's confusing stance on sovereignty, “it's no wonder so many people [in government] are in the habit of taking actions that they think would please their superiors,” DPP Legislator Chen Chi-yu (陳啟昱) told a press conference yesterday.
Chen made the remarks in light of the latest incident in which 5,000 calendars distributed to the public by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) Eastern Taiwan Office in Hualien were found to contain three extra holidays — July 1, Oct. 1 and Dec. 26.
None of those dates are holidays in Taiwan, but they are celebrated in Hong Kong as the founding anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the National Day of the People's Republic of China and the birthday of Mao Zedong (毛澤東) respectively.
Taiwan celebrates its national day on Oct. 10.
Chen said the ministry should be particularly sensitive to details like these, yet they have slipped through as though it regards China as the motherland.
DPP Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌) said this was the third case in which calendars distributed by government agencies carried inappropriate national holidays, adding that it was “an indication that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government is preparing to unite with China.”
The first incident took place last October when calendars for this year that were distributed by the KMT-dominated Taoyuan County Council marked Oct. 1 as National Day and July 1 as Reunification Day.
Hsueh said that a set of free calendars produced by Taitung County Government's Department of Health last month were found to carry China's five-star national flag — not the Republic of China's (ROC) national flag — on the cover and listed Oct. 1 as National Day.
In both cases, local governments attributed the mistakes to negligence on the part of the printing companies.
“Why all these mistakes?” Hsueh asked, adding that these “seeming mistakes” were all part of the government's maneuverings. She did not elaborate.
At a separate setting yesterday, MOFA spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said the blunder was unintentional.
The error was not detected during pre-publication proofreading because the sample calendar submitted by the publishing house was printed in black and white, while the finished product appeared in color, he said.
The publisher has apologized for the error and will publish a new version, he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU AND CNA
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
RSS