The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday said it would propose constitutional amendments to remove the “one country, two areas” article from the Constitution, abolish the Taiwan Provincial Government and lower the minimum voting age from 20 to 18.
An amendment made to the Constitution in 1991 “to meet the requisites prior to national unification” recognizes the “Chinese mainland area” as opposed to the “free area,” and both areas make up the Republic of China.
“The constitutional identification of ‘one country, two areas’ is the biggest joke in the history of constitutional democracy, because the idea goes against the principle of popular sovereignty, which states that the authority of a nation is created and sustained by its citizens,” NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
“Taiwan is a sovereign nation with a population of 23 million people and there is no ‘Chinese mainland area’ in this nation,” he added.
Surveys have shown that more than 70 percent of Taiwanese believe that the “cross-strait relationship” is international in nature, and abolishing the “one country, two areas” article is key to normalizing Taiwan’s status and dealing with the notorious legacy of the now-defunct National Assembly, Huang said.
Abolishing the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) is a further step that needs to be taken toward the normalization of the nation, he added.
Lowering the voting age is a global trend to encourage young people to exercise their political rights, but the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) unreasonable boycott of a proposal to lower the voting age last year obstructed a potential youth empowerment and constitutional amendment, Huang said.
“There are 890,000 people aged between 14 and 16, and they can cast their first ballot in the next presidential and legislative elections in 2020 if the amendment can be put to a referendum and approved in the next nine-in-one elections in 2018,” he said.
The constitutional changes in 1998 stripped the Taiwan Provincial Government of its authority, essentially making it a nominal institution, but it still costs the nation millions of New Taiwan dollars every year, the NPP said.
Asked whether the proposed amendments would be associated with Taiwanese independence and upset China, Huang said domestic reform has to be undertaken independent of other nations’ opinions, even though attaining international recognition is an important step toward the normalization of Taiwan.
NPP Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said no politician, regardless of their affinity, would be willing to sacrifice Taiwan’s democracy, liberty and human rights, and no one would accept China’s interference in Taiwan’s constitutional reform.
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