China will be the only winner if the US continues to oppose Taiwan's referendum to join the UN, academics said at a forum in Taipei yesterday, while urging the US to stop yielding to Beijing's pressure to marginalize Taiwan and warning of an increasing anti-US sentiment in Taiwan if Washington insists on blocking the referendum.
The forum, sponsored by the pro-independence Taiwan Think tank, was held to gather the views of Taiwanese academics on US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's recent open criticism of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government's referendum to join the UN under the name "Taiwan."
Calling the referendum a "provocative policy, " Rice said during a press conference in Washington on Friday that the referendum "unnecessarily raises tensions in the Taiwan Strait" and "promises no real benefits for the people of Taiwan on the international stage."
Mainland Council Affairs Vice-Chairman Tung Chen-yuan (
"Rice made a huge mistake by calling Taiwan's move provocative because China is the real provoker in this case," he said, adding that in the past three years, China had made 110 successful attempts to blackball Taiwan' participation in various international organizations.
And China continues to aim as many as 1,000 missiles at Taiwan, he said.
The planned UN referendum is an indication Taiwan's democratic maturity, he said.
President Chen Shui-bian (
National Chengchi University Taiwan history professor Chen Wen-shyen (
"It is obvious that the US is ignorant of the voice of the 2.7 million Taiwanese who petitioned for the referendum," he said.
"The Bush administration still holds on to the jaded idea that it can squelch Taiwan's democracy by pressuring Chen, just like the US did during the Chiang [Kai-shek (蔣介石)] era," he said.
Chen Wen-shyen also said that Taiwan's ostracism from the UN would further hinder the nation's efforts to make positive contributions to worldwide issues such as global warming.
Soochow University Political Science Department Chair Luo Chih-cheng (羅致政) criticized the US for "silently consenting" to Beijing's bullying of Taiwan, adding that Washington had made no effort to prevent China from downgrading Taiwan's status in the World Organization of Animal Health.
The Bush administration is severely underestimating the dangerous collateral damage that might result from opposing Taiwan's UN referendum because it gives Beijing a green light to further intimidate Taiwan militarily, he said.
"The US should be concerned with a possible wave of anti-US sentiment in Taiwan if it refuses to back down from its opposing stance," he said.
"Although there might be other factors, Washington's opposition to the UN referendum is the major reason behind the increasing animosity," he said.
Lai Yi-chung (賴怡忠), deputy of the DPP's International Affairs Department, said Washington's policy was unfair because it handcuffs Taiwan and prevents it from making any political decisions regarding its status while allowing China to continue to sabotage Taiwan's growth with various threats.
China is the sole beneficiary in the quagmire between the US and Taiwan because it has successfully pinned two democratic countries against each other, he said.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
RSS