The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) chairman yesterday vowed he would request Mainland Affairs Council chairwoman-designate Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) withdraw from her position if the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration fails to uphold the basic principles it promised to the party when dealing with cross-strait relations.
“As a responsible opposition party, we will continue to monitor the performance of the KMT government closely,” said TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝).
Huang said president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) visited him on Sunday night to ask for his approval of Lai’s appointment. Huang said they talked for about an hour and he laid down three principles for cross-strait policy, which Ma agreed with.
The KMT government must promise to safeguard national dignity, take care of the interest of the Taiwanese people and manifest Taiwan-centered consciousness, Huang said.
“We don’t have any problem with recalling her if the Ma administration violates those three principles,” Huang said. “For us, her recruitment to the new government is like one of our daughters marrying into a new family and we will not punish her, like other political parties, for joining the KMT government.”
Huang said Ma told him that he was impressed by Lai’s performance in the legislature, her clean image, professionalism and competence. Lai’s experience at the National Security Council, negotiation skills at the WTO and in-depth knowledge of cross-strait relations made an impression on Ma, Huang said.
Describing his conversation with Ma as “rational,” Huang said it ushered in a new era of politics and political cooperation. In order to promote unity and harmony among political parties, Huang said he proposed that Ma call regular meetings with party leaders. Huang said Ma did not give a definite answer but said his proposal deserved consideration.
Huang said that Lai was surprised at Ma’s offer but decided to join the KMT administration as a TSU member. She does not hold any party position and will not partake in any party-related activities in the future, Huang said.
While concern was raised over her political position, Huang said such concern was based on a lack of understanding of the TSU, which has transformed itself from embracing die-hard pro-independence to pursuing the “center left” path.
As for the attitude of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), the spiritual leader of TSU, Huang said Lee thought a professional talent must serve the country, not just a party.
Meanwhile, Lai yesterday said that she shouldn’t have any problem cooperating with the KMT administration and pushing its cross-strait agenda because she sees eye to eye with the president-elect.
Lai said she agreed with Ma’s theory of “no unification, no independence and no military force” and concurred that the status quo of the Republic of China must be maintained.
She also agreed with Ma that cross-strait relations must develop on the foundation that Taiwan’s interest is put first, the people of Taiwan benefit from it and Taiwan-centered consciousness is protected.
Lai said while it was necessary to further ease restrictions on cross-strait trade, the government must minimize the negative impact.
When asked about the concerns over her appointment, Lai said that it was indeed a challenge and she would like to call on her opponents to judge her by her performance.
Regarding how the Mainland Affairs Council should cooperate with the Straits Exchange Foundation, Lai said they would each perform their individual duties under the legal framework.
As for Ma’s pledge to materialize weekend charter flights by July, Lai said that she was confident she could reach the goal but emphasized that it would also hinge on goodwill from Beijing.
‘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