Changhua County Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members yesterday vowed to defend the Republic of China (ROC), waving the ROC flag and chanting: “Long Live the ROC” at a rally outside Yuanlin Station in Yuanlin to support DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) announcement that she would attend Double Ten National Day celebrations.
“Taiwan is the ROC and the ROC is Taiwan,” DPP county chapter director-general Chen Chin-ting (陳進丁) said, adding that the ROC is slowly unraveling under President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and has constantly been belittled by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
National dignity is eroding under Ma and former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) is also abasing himself to Chinese whims and following its version of history, Chen said, adding that both men, despite being members of a party that is technically the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) archnemesis, have no regard for the ROC.
Photo: Yen Hung-chun, Taipei Times
Following the ROC’s defeat in the Chinese Civil War, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government retreated to Taiwan, while the CCP founded the PRC.
Both nations are still technically at war as no official peace treaty has been signed or ratified, Chen said.
If the KMT is gutless and afraid of revoking Lien’s party membership, it is in essence giving up the nation’s dignity, Chen said, adding that should this be the case, the DPP would step up to defend the ROC and Taiwanese dignity.
Chen was refering to Lien’s controversial visit to Beijing last week to attend a military parade in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Chen called for DPP members nationwide to hang ROC flags outside their homes to show that they love Taiwan and the ROC.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
NEGOTIATIONS: Taiwan has good relations with Washington and the outlook for the negotiations looks promising, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo said Taiwan’s GDP growth this year is expected to decrease by 0.43 to 1.61 percentage points due to the effects of US tariffs, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei yesterday, citing a preliminary estimate by a private research institution. Taiwan’s economy would be significantly affected by the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs slapped by the US, which took effect yesterday, Liu said, adding that GDP growth could fall below 3 percent and potentially even dip below 2 percent to 1.53 percent this year. The council has commissioned another institution
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the