Local pro-Taiwan independence activists yesterday said that China is the troublemaker in the Taiwan Strait and suggested a new Constitution as a response to China's drafting the "Anti-independence Law," a secession law that could provide the legal basis for using force against Taiwan.
"We actually do not have to worry about that too much because it is China's law, not ours. And their law enforcement offices do not have jurisdiction in Taiwan," said Chen Lung-chu (陳隆志), president and CEO of the Taiwan New Century Foundation (台灣新世紀文教基金會).
PHOTO: LIU HSING-TEH, TAIPEI TIMES
According to Chen, China's drafting of the "Anti-independence Law" is to legalize its potential military strikes against Taiwan in the future. However, he also said that China's new law is only effective within its own territory. Taiwan has never been a part of its territory, so no matter what law it uses, it is useless.
Chen made his remarks yesterday at the beginning of a seminar organized by the foundation. He said that the Taiwanese people should actually respect China's establishment of the new law.
"The real relationship between us [Beijing and Taipei] should be to respect each other and help each other. However, unfortunately they [China] never give up using force against Taiwan, although we have more than once tried to show our sincerity," Chen said.
"We are two different countries. Taiwan is an independent country. This is a fact and it is very clear," he continued. Former National Security Council senior advisor and former Taiwan Solidarity Union secretary-general Su Chin-chiang (蘇進強) also echoed Chen's remarks at the seminar.
"What we need is constructive and cooperative thoughts and attitudes, instead of challenging each other like this," Su said.
In the meantime, Su also endorsed the pan-green camp's idea to draft a new Constitution in 2006.
"A new Constitution will protect our country," Su said. "Our current Constitution was drafted in China for Chinese people. However, we do not own that soil any more and we need something for Taiwanese people, not the Chinese."
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
RSS