Academics and politicians continued to express mixed reactions yesterday to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) “recognition” of the Republic of China (ROC) last weekend, with some members of the pan-green camp voicing strong disapproval.
While most people, including the DPP’s rival in the January presidential elections the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), welcomed the statement, some DPP members expressed displeasure over Tsai’s statement, with DPP Legislator Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) saying that Taiwan is not the ROC and that its status remains undecided.
Tsai, the DPP’s presidential candidate, repeated her call for members of the pan-green camp to support her willingness to recognize the ROC on Monday night in a campaign stop in Chiayi City.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Taiwanese were able to “absorb the ROC in” 60 years, she said, so that the KMT should be more closely identified with Taiwan by now.
She also said that Taiwan was more than a geographical term or a “homeland,” as President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in his national day speech on Monday, but a place with a “meaning of sovereignty.”
Media quoted analysts as saying that Tsai’s statement was “not surprising” and was in line with the DPP’s resolution on Taiwan’s future in 1999, which stated that Taiwan is an independent and sovereign country currently using the name ROC.
Tsai’s interpretation of the ROC differs from Ma’s, which still defines the ROC as the country -established by Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) in 1912 and which consists of 35 provinces, including modern-day Mongolia, former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) told a forum organized by the Taiwan Brain Trust.
The ROC that Tsai recognized is a country with the territories of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, a country that remade itself after being expelled from the UN in 1971, Wu said.
Most Taiwanese would be able to relate to Tsai’s interpretation of the ROC better than that of Ma’s, which holds the view that the ROC — and only the ROC — holds sovereignty and Taiwan is and has always been only part of the ROC, he said.
Meanwhile, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), a DPP ally, expressed its disagreement with Tsai, saying that “Taiwan is not the ROC and the ROC is not Taiwan.”
“Taiwan is Taiwan. It is a de facto independent country. The TSU always maintains that what Taiwan really needs is name rectification and a new constitution,” TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) told reporters at a separate press conference.
Taiwan was not an ROC territory when the ROC was founded in 1912, nor did Taiwan send representatives to the ROC Constitutional meeting in 1936, which was why former president and TSU spiritual leader Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) characterized it as “the ROC in Taiwan,” Huang said.
Lee referred to the current situation as “the ROC in Taiwan” because dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his KMT troops brought “the ROC system” to Taiwan after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War in 1949 without first securing the consent of Taiwanese, Huang said.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
RSS