Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday that Taiwan's National Unification Guidelines are similar in spirit to China's "Anti-Secession" Law in that they both assume unification to be the ultimate goal of cross-strait relations -- an assumption that violates the people's freedom of choice.
"The National Unification Guidelines are similar to certain articles of China's `Anti-Secession' Law as both advocate unification. [This] could easily confuse international society. Therefore, it is necessary to consider whether to keep the guidelines, in order to safeguard the opportunity for Taiwanese people to decide their own future," Wu said yesterday during an interview with a local TV station.
Wu also objected to recent US State Department statements that Taiwan's joining the UN under the name of "Taiwan" would constitute a unilateral change to the cross-strait status quo.
"President [George W.] Bush made freedom and democracy the most important goals of America's foreign policy in his 2004 presidential inaugural speech, and he reiterated that stance in his latest `state of the union' speech. So why would Taiwan, a free and democratic country, be seen as changing the status quo if it wants to join the UN under the name `Taiwan'?" Wu asked.
While the proposal to abolish the unification guidelines and National Unification Council is still being reviewed by the government, it is important to make the US understand that China is the one undermining the status quo through its rapid military buildup against Taiwan, Wu said.
At a separate event yesterday, Vice President Annette Lu (
"The Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] is only checking to see if the food has begun to stink after being frozen in the refrigerator for so many years," Lu said while giving a speech at a trade union gathering in Taoyuan County.
Wu also told a TV interviewer yesterday that it would be impossible to realize direct fights between China and Taiwan during his tenure as MAC chairman unless the appropriate government-to-government negotiations take place.
Wu also warned on China's destructive tactics against Taiwan, citing Chinese President Hu Jintao's (
Wu said that intelligence sources reported recently that Hu demanded that Taiwanese businessmen in Fujian Province provide new agricultural technology to China every month.
"This is basically a way to destroy Taiwan's agriculture," Wu said, adding the leak of important technology to China could threaten Taiwan's agricultural competitiveness.
‘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
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
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
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