Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday announced the establishment of a China Affairs Committee, ending media speculation about the makeup of the committee by doubling as the committee’s convener.
Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), whose landmark visit to China last month made him the front-runner to lead the committee, expressed his support.
Su made the announcement, regarded as the DPP’s first step to formulate its new China policy and start anew its relations with Beijing after losing the January presidential election, at a press conference after the party’s weekly Central Standing Committee meeting.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
After “extended deliberations,” Su said he gave up the original plan of having Hsieh as committee head and decided to assume responsibility himself because “it is the chairman’s responsibility to integrate different opinions in the party.”
The DPP’s views on Taiwan’s status and future remain unchanged because its party resolution on Taiwan’s future in 1999 has now become mainstream opinion among Taiwanese, Su said.
The comment was regarded as an attempt to reassure supporters that the party would not tilt toward Beijing in its attempts to prove to the public that it is capable of managing cross-strait relations.
However, because Chinese influence has been everywhere in Taiwan, the DPP has to respond with flexible strategies and approaches, and present a China policy that will “serve Taiwan’s interests in the future,” Su said.
Explaining the committee structure in detail, DPP Secretary-General Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) said it would consist of seven to nine members and include an advisory board, with a meeting being held every two months.
The other members of the committee are expected to be finalized in one to three weeks, he said, adding that Hsieh and former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) had already been invited to join the committee.
Hsieh’s initiative of “constitutions with different interpretations” (憲法各表) meant he would not be an ideal candidate to convene the committee, because the former premier’s views on China policy are clear and would not help him as convener of the committee’s discussions, Lin said.
While the name of the committee has been a hot topic in the media, Lin said it was never an issue in the meeting as the party stuck with “China” rather than “cross-strait” or “mainland” as some had suggested.
Lin also played down the significance of the committee being headed by a convener rather than a chairman, saying that it was a “non-issue” in the meeting.
Before the meeting, representatives of various pro-independence groups, including the Taiwan Society, the Taiwan Hakka Society, the Northern Taiwan Society, the Taiwan Nation Alliance and the Taiwan Association of University Professors, met with Su and voiced their concerns.
Taiwan Society president Wu Shu-min (吳樹民) told reporters after the meeting that the groups argued that the establishment of a committee on China policy was not a priority for the DPP at present.
Instead, Wu said, the DPP should focus on domestic economic issues, and promote social justice and fairness, such as seeking a solution to the financial crises of various pension programs.
Former premier Yu Shyi-kun shared those views, saying that the DPP would be able to promote closer engagement with China without setting up a committee.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS