Warning that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) visit to China might have grave repercussions, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday said that China's invitation was an arrangement aimed at unification but cloaked in the name of peace.
She said people should pay close attention to the development of cross-strait relations, not on the commotion at CKS International Airport.
"Cross-strait relations have changed a lot since Beijing passed the `Anti-Secession' Law. It is confusing and stunning for the KMT to switch its political stance from opposing communism to leaning toward communism," Lu said at the DPP Central Standing Committee's weekly meeting yesterday afternoon.
PHOTO: AFP
"The first part of the Anti-Secession Law is to facilitate unification. Inviting the opposition leaders to visit China is just part of its [Beijing's] ploys in the name of peace," Lu said.
"The second half of the law will be objecting to Taiwan's independence with force. We have to use a lot of caution in dealing with the new cross-strait situation," she said.
"Comparing with the changing cross-strait situation, the conflicts that broke out at the airport this morning were a petty thing," Lu said.
Lu said the KMT's U-turn -- with its leaders rushing to China -- reminded her of the recent train accident in Japan after the train took a sudden turn.
"Although Lien has stressed that his trip is a peace journey, the so-called `peace' in China's eye is to demand that Taiwan accept that it is part of China," Lu said. "I'm worried that Lien's visit might have the same outcome as the Japanese train accident -- major casualties."
Meanwhile, DPP Deputy Secretary-General Yen Wan-ching (
"Lien and Soong's trips have created great contention and controversy in Taiwan," Yen said. "We hope that this will remind them not to violate the voice of the majority in Taiwan."
Taiwan Solidarity Union TSU Secretary-General Chen Chien-ming (
"The police's security was full of loopholes and their blockade strategy was not effective at all," Chen said angrily at a news conference at the TSU's headquarters after its protesters returned from the airport.
"The TSU supporters stayed in the areas set out by the police. However, many pan-blue supporters -- who we suspect are gangsters -- hid in the throng and attacked us," Chen said.
He said about five TSU supporters had suffered bloody head injuries and were believed to have been assaulted by gangsters wearing rings with a tiger-head design.
Chen also pointed a finger at DPP Legislator Wang Shih-chien (王世堅), accusing him of inciting his supporters to clash with the pan-blue crowds. Chen said TSU's supporters were being scapegoated.
In response, Yen said that this was not the time for the pan-green camp to start blaming one another.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS