The recklessness and inconsistency displayed by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in formulating a proposal for a peace agreement with China within a decade raises great concerns over his ability to handle major cross-strait talks, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Ma’s explanation of his initiative is “loose and simplistic,” Tsai said. “We didn’t see any sophisticated deliberation and planning behind the proposal.”
The remarks came in response to Ma’s announcement yesterday that the government would obtain the public’s approval through a referendum before pushing for a peace pact with China.
Ma’s position on referendums is inconsistent, Tsai said, because he opposed one when he was pushing for negotiations for the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which turned out to be neither transparent nor supervised by the legislature.
While the DPP has always called for a peaceful framework based on bilateral negotiations between sovereign entities, Ma’s initiative would proceed under a “one China” framework, which would leave Taiwan without bargaining chips, she said at a campaign stop in Greater Taichung.
Tsai added that Ma appeared to be manipulating the critical issue, which would have a great impact on Taiwan’s future, to benefit his presidential campaign.
At a separate setting yesterday, DPP spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that because Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) told the legislature on Wednesday that a referendum on the initiative was not necessary if most people supported it, only for the Presidential Office to later say that a referendum would be required, the Ma administration’s position on referendums was inconsistent.
Ma referred to his proposal as a peace “agreement,” which is usually signed between two belligerents, rather than a country-to-country “treaty,” DPP spokesman Liang Wen-jie (梁文傑) said, adding that Ma’s approach risked placing Taiwan under the “one China” framework.
“Ma’s impromptu initiative on this major issue is of great concern and is questionable,” Liang said.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) described Ma’s talk about a referendum as a “two-handed tactic” to benefit his presidential campaign.
“He has never supported referendums in the past and now he’s supportive — this is clearly a campaign strategy,” he said.
Ma used to list the removal of Chinese missiles aimed at Taiwan as a prerequisite for bilateral talks, DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said.
“Now he’s grown tired of bringing it up,” Yeh said.
On the pan-blue side, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators rallied behind Ma and his proposal.
KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said seeking a referendum prior to talks on a peace treaty was a “brilliant tactic” because now “the KMT is running the show.”
“Now the ball is in the DPP’s court. If the DPP rejects the idea, could it be that it is against permanent peace across the Taiwan Strait and the contention that Taiwan’s future should be decided by the people?” Lin said.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said a referendum on whether to start negotiations with China on a peace agreement cannot be interpreted as a plebiscite for independence or for unification.
The idea proposed by Ma could put the issue of the future direction of the country up for discussion during the campaign period, above the level of debates on cross-strait policy and competition among political parties in the election, he said.
KMT caucus whip Chao Li-yun (趙麗雲) said the KMT caucus would propose a referendum on the issue when necessary.
“The DPP used to employ the tactic of referendums to boost its campaigns. Why can’t the KMT initiate a referendum?” she said.
Chao said the idea to negotiate a peace accord with China was no different from that proposed by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on whether Taiwan needed to sign an agreement with China to build a peaceful and stable interaction framework in 2003, when Tsai Ing-wen was chairperson of the Mainland Affairs Council.
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
CLOSER TO CHINA: The upgraded Type-12 missile has a range of about 1,000km, compared with the original model’s range of 200km, and can reach mainland China Japan is preparing to deploy its first batch of domestically developed long-range missiles, with their launchers arriving at an army camp yesterday, as the country accelerates its offensive capability in response to rising challenges in the region. The upgraded Type-12 land-to-ship missiles are to be deployed at Camp Kengun in Japan’s southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto by the end of this month, completing the process of deployment, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said without giving details. Army vehicles carrying the launchers and other equipment arrived past midnight in a highly secretive mission criticized by residents. Dozens of people stood outside of the
RSS