Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) comments about Taiwan being “abandoned by its motherland” have prompted criticism from politicians across party lines, who said the comments came across as inappropriate.
Hau met with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) in Beijing on Sunday.
In response to media queries on his views about cross-strait contentions, Hau said: “Taiwan had been abandoned by its motherland” and it felt hurt and wanted emotional distance.
Photo: Yu Pei-ju, Taipei Times
Hau, known for supporting the idea that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the Zhonghua minzu (Chinese ethnic group, 中華民族), added that the nation’s 23 million people have a consensus that they belong to the Republic of China (ROC) and that both sides of the Taiwan Strait should learn to view things from different perspectives.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said Hau must have been referring to the Treaty of Shimonoseki, but was confused.
The treaty ended the First Sino-Japanese War between the Qing Dynasty and the Japanese empire and ceded Taiwan to Japan.
The treaty was signed on April 17, 1895, and entered into force on May 8, 1895.
Lo said that when the treaty was signed, Qing official Lee Hongzhang (李鴻章) told Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧太后) that Taiwan was a “backward territory where flowers do not bloom, the birds do not sing, the men are heartless and the women without love.”
“The Qing Dynasty is not our motherland. We overthrew the Qing Dynasty. Taiwan is an independent nation and no longer has feelings of being abandoned,” Lo said.
Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) of the Democratic Progressive Party criticized Hau’s “slanted historical views.”
When asked for a comment, KMT Taipei City mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文), said everyone in the ROC has their own thoughts on China, but did not elaborate further.
New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) said he hoped people would not judge things purely from an ideological perspective, adding that there were many things over the course of 400 years of history to reconsider.
Both sides of the Strait need to face up to the bad blood between them with seriousness and should consider the factors that could explain why Taiwanese regard China and its people with such hostility, he added.
Meanwhile, Hau yesterday said that he was speaking of historical facts from more than a century ago.
He said that the “motherland” refers to the ROC, adding that his comments were made in private and had been blown out of proportion.
The ROC was founded on Jan. 1, 1912 — 17 years after the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed.
Hau met with Zhang as he wrapped up a four-day trip to Beijing, his first official visit to the city. He was there to take part in a travel exhibition.
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
RSS