The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) delegation's just-concluded visit to China will be used by Beijing in its strategy to undermine the sovereignty of Republic of China, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) official said yesterday.
"The government has its own timetable in cross-strait exchanges and remains in control of cross-strait issues," DPP Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang (
"China gains the upper hand when the KMT goes and inks agreements with Beijing, and then returns to Taiwan and reports to the government afterward," Lee said.
"Taiwan's national interests and the people's well-being would be undermined as a result," Lee said.
The 10-point agreement reached between the KMT and Beijing covers a wide range of cross-strait issues, including direct charter flights, agricultural cooperation, tourism, protection for China-based Taiwanese businesspeople and the opening of the Chinese financial market.
Noting that the so-called 10-point proposal was not approved by the government but was nonetheless inked by the KMT and the CCP, Lee said the agreement therefore "in no way can it represent the 23 million people of Taiwan."
"With that in mind, we can't help but ask the KMT: Is Taiwan anarchy? Does the Taiwanese government no longer exist?" Lee said.
The DPP official also said the KMT had become a tool of Beijing to carry out its so-called "united front" tactics against Taiwan.
KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kun's (
The visit gives Beijing a free hand in selecting which party it would like negotiate with and is thus oblivious to the feelings of the 23 million Taiwanese people, Lee said.
It also undermines Taiwan's democracy, he added.
"What' the difference between this [Beijing talking to its preferred party] and it treatment of its administrative regions, such as Hong Kong?" he said.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,