Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday congratulated Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) for surpassing the required 30 percent approval rating threshold in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential primary process, and urged her to persuade her colleagues at the legislature to support lowering the legal voting age to 18.
“I would like to extend my congratulations to Hung for the very good result in the poll. It is a very big responsibility and a heavy burden to win the party’s nomination,” Tsai said on Facebook. “As a female politician, I would like to extend my sincerest wishes.”
Tsai said that althogh Hung had released a video clip expressing her support for lowering the voting age to 18, “unfortunately, the constitutional amendment that would make it happen might never pass the legislature, since the KMT caucus insists on tying it to other amendment proposals.”
Photo: Chang An-chiao, Taipei Times
“At this critical junction, I hope that Hung uses her influence to persuade her colleagues in the Legislative Yuan to stop obstructing the development of civil rights for young people,” Tsai said.
Tsai said she welcomed the participation of young people in public affairs, and that the Sunflower movement and the debate over the Ministry of Education’s plan to adjust high-school curriculum guidelines are evidence of young people’s maturity and enthusiasm.
“Eighteen is an age full of hope and zeal — it is like the rising sun that can end the darkness and light up the nation’s future,” Tsai said. “We should allow them the civil rights that belong to them, so that they can provide momentum to push the nation forward.”
‘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