President Chen Shui-bian (
"Lien has given us many different versions of his stance on the cross-strait relationship issue, but he has never told the public which one of his avowed beliefs is the truth," Chen said during a campaign activity in Taipei City yesterday.
The president said Lien had approved of former president Lee Teng-hui's (
"Now he even asks the people of the country to accept his idea of `putting aside sovereignty' to negotiate with China," Chen said.
"Moreover, his running mate, Soong, once advocated the `one China' theory, which stated that Taiwan is a part of China, as well as a `quasi-international relationship' to describe the cross-strait status quo in the 2000 presidential election," Chen said.
Chen reminded the public that Lien at once severely criticized Soong for his advocacy of "capitulation."
"Lien even called Soong an opportunist who would absolutely sell out Taiwan if he won the presidential election," Chen said.
"Those two politicians, who apparently have no concrete dedication to their country, are now hand-in-hand and want to run for head of state," he said. "How can we trust them?"
Chen stressed that his commitment to protect Taiwan's sovereignty remains unchanged, while his opponents had always been inconsistent on this issue.
"Anything but the nation's sovereignty can be put aside," said Chen.
During last week's TV debate, Lien said that both sides should put aside sovereignty issues and precede with negotiating administrative affairs in response to one of Chen's questions about how to meet a timetable for establishing direct links, in light of Beijing's "one China" principle.
Chen attacked Lien for giving up Taiwan's sovereignty, saying that such an approach was hazardous.
Lien has said over the past few days that Chen viciously misinterpreted his remarks.
"What I was saying is that both sides should put aside those issues related to the sovereignty dispute and focus on those negotiations touching on administrative affairs," Lien said during yesterday's campaign activity.
"Chen Shui-bian is just playing his old trick of putting a label on me," Lien said.
However, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday kept attacking Lien's phrase "putting aside sovereignty," saying that its presidential campaign headquarters was prepared to make 100,000 VCD copies of the TV debate to distribute to the public.
"We believe that they can make their own judgment after watching the VCD," said DPP Department of Information and Culture Deputy Director Cheng Wen-tsan (
Meanwhile, Chen yesterday announced that Nobel laureate and Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (
"Nine influential figures from different fields have promised to join the task force and Lee Yuan-tseh will be its convener," Chen said, adding that the task force will begin formal operations after March 20.
Chen vowed last Friday to form a task force to create a "peace and stability framework for cross-strait interaction," which is a part of the second question of the referendum.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
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