Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in Switzerland on Wednesday warned that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) plan to scrap the National Unification Council and the national unification guidelines may have "serious consequences."
Ma issued the warning while answering questions from reporters upon his arrival at Geneva airport from Turin, Italy, as he continued his five-nation European tour.
Taiwan's Representative to Geneva Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡), greeted Ma as he arrived at the airport.
Although Chen proposed the idea without mentioning how it would be put into practice, Ma said that he wanted to remind the president that such a plan could have grave consequences if it were carried out, as illustrated by Washington's reaction.
Peace and prosperity
Stating that the aim of the KMT's cross-strait policy is to achieve peace and prosperity for Taiwan, Ma stressed that he will advocate a "third path" for Taiwan -- maintaining the status quo while boosting bilateral exchanges and mutual understanding across the Strait.
Ma was expected to fly to London last night after his Italian visit.
Chen said in his Jan. 29 Lunar New Year speech that the time may be right to ponder dissolving the council and its guidelines as China had failed to renounce the use of force against Taiwan.
Chen's New Year remarks immediately drew a backlash from the US, which reiterated its opposition to any unilateral changes made by either Taiwan or China to the cross-strait status quo.
According to Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who met with Chen on Wednesday, the president again aired his views about scrapping the National Unification Council and national unification guidelines to counter Ma's "eventual unification" theory, which the president viewed as a violation of the Taiwanese people's right to decide their own future.
Focused
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (
The "eventual unification" that Ma referred to must be based on preconditions of peace and equitable prosperity on both sides of the Strait and with the consent of Taiwan's people, Lai said, adding that what Ma talked about did not exceed the framework of the National Unification Council or its guidelines.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) accused the president of playing hardball by saying that he had unfairly interpreted Ma's remarks to the foreign media as a way of shifting the general public's attention from the poor performance of the government.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS