China’s Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone project is partly politically motivated, the nation’s spymaster said in the legislature yesterday, adding his voice to those of lawmakers who suspect ulterior motives behind the project.
China set up the zone in its Fujian Province and has suggested that Taiwan participate in its development under “five commons” — common planning, common development, common operation, common management and common benefits.
In a Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) questioned National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) about the project.
“Do you consider the Pingtan project to be politically motivated?” Tsai Huang-liang asked.
Tsai Der-sheng said any China policy concerning Taiwan involved political motivations and the Pingtan project was no different.
“I think it is somewhat politically motivated, but not entirely,” he said.
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (習近平) instructed a Fujian provincial delegation before it departed for Taiwan to do a good job of explaining the project and added that the delegation could contribute toward Beijing’s “great reunification mission,” Tsai Huang-liang said.
“What do you think of this?” he asked the bureau chief.
“If the Pingtan project involved unification efforts such as those alluded to by Xi, I would say I do not support such a project,” Tsai Der-sheng said.
“I would publicly oppose any cross-strait proposal that jeopardizes national security,” he added.
The DPP has expressed opposition to the Pingtan project mainly because of the ostensibly political motives behind the “five commons” in promoting China’s “one country, two systems (一國兩制)” as a paradigm for cross-strait relations.
Turning to cross-strait investment, the bureau chief said that while Taiwanese are prohibited from serving as officials in the Chinese government or joining the Chinese Communist Party, 169 Taiwanese were reported to have violated this rule.
According to the bureau, 73 of those individuals serve as members of the Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in various Chinese cities.
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) said only one of the 169 was punished because it was difficult to confirm and identify those people and hand down punishments.
Lawmakers also told the meeting they were concerned about the government’s inability to monitor personnel and capital flows between Taiwan and China amid more frequent cross-strait exchanges and further relaxation of Chinese investment in Taiwan.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡), DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) and Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲) said they feared that further relaxation of rules on Chinese investment in Taiwan would jeopardize national security and facilitate the political agenda of visiting Chinese delegations.
As the nation is scheduled to further open its service, public construction and manufacturing sectors to Chinese investors, the most crucial aspect is “whether we’re ready, not how many categories will be open,” Tsai Der-sheng said.
However, the bureau said in its report to the legislature that with its current resources, monitoring the investment, investigating possible political motives and taking countermeasures in a timely manner would be extremely difficult.
It would also be difficult to monitor visiting Chinese officials, such as Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中), vice chairman of the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, who claimed he had visited more than 340 townships in various trips to Taiwan, Tsai Der-sheng said.
Meanwhile, the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee reached a resolution demanding that the MAC and the NSB submit reports on visiting Chinese delegations and the 169 Taiwanese suspected of serving as Chinese officials within a month.
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
SECURITY CONCERNS: An FBI agent said it was surprising that the shooter, whose motive remains unknown, was able to open fire before the Secret Service killed him On the heels of an apparent attempt to kill him, former US president Donald Trump yesterday called for unity and resilience as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled from the shooting that left him injured, but “fine,” and the shooter and a rally-goer dead. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting His aides said he was in “great spirits” and doing well. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place,” he