The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday dismissed President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) proposal that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait put an end to decades of hostility, calling the idea wishful thinking.
Outgoing DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) described Ma’s inaugural address as “uninspiring.”
Hsieh expressed concern over Ma’s cross-strait policy, warning that it is naive to think “a tiger will not eat a rabbit if the rabbit sings and dances to entertain the tiger.”
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
After Beijing’s obstruction of Taiwan’s latest bid to join the WHO this year, Hsieh said it was unrealistic to think that China would assist and respect Taiwan’s bid to join any international organization.
The DPP will closely monitor the words and deeds of the new administration, he said, and will work to prevent any compromise on national sovereignty.
Hsieh also criticized Ma’s inauguration speech, saying it was unnecessary to dismiss the achievements of the DPP government and that Ma had insulted the 5.44 million people who voted for the DPP in the presidential election.
Speaking at a separate setting, DPP deputy caucus whip Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said Ma had highlighted the nation’s financial aid and relief supplies to China following last week’s earthquake, while failing to express any objection to China’s deployment of missiles against Taiwan and its obstruction at the WHO.
Kuan said Ma’s statement that there would be no revisions to the Republic of China’s Constitution under his administration indicated that the referendum and election systems would escape reform, allowing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to maintain its position as the dominant party.
“This not only demonstrates the KMT’s egoism, but also signals a slowdown in Taiwan’s democratic development,” she said.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said Ma had failed to stress the nation’s sovereignty while addressing cross-strait relations during his inauguration speech.
The KMT caucus, meanwhile, lauded Ma’s address.
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said Ma’s speech demonstrated his wisdom, tenderness and tolerance.
“I believe the world will feel that [this speech] represents a major improvement in cross-strait relations,” he said.
Wu shrugged off the DPP’s criticism of the speech, urging the party not to misinterpret the nation’s goodwill toward China by saying that the president had belittled Taiwan.
Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), also caucus deputy secretary-general, said the content of the speech reflected Ma’s “pragmatic” stance on cross-strait issues.
“In contrast to the restricted cross-strait relations during Chen Shui-bian’s [陳水扁] terms, Ma has taken Taiwan’s dignity into consideration while showing goodwill to China [in the speech],” she said.
However, KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) was critical of Ma’s speech, saying that the content was not “penetrating” and “appealing” enough.
Chiu said Ma failed to touch on issues that have a direct impact on people’s lives, such as inflation and soaring commodity prices, nor how he intended to fulfill his campaign promises to achieve annual economic growth of 6 percent, boost per capita income to US$30,000 by 2016 and bring the unemployment rate down to 3 percent.
Meanwhile, Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) blasted Ma for not mentioning the rights of Aborigines in his inauguration speech, calling the new head of state indifferent to the subject.
“We suspect that Ma does not care about the Aboriginal community because [in his speech] he only thanked Hoklos for their support. We demand that Ma apologize for the 400 year-long oppression of the Aboriginal community by Han Chinese,” said Chin, a member of the Atayal tribe.
The tearful Chin said the Aboriginal community was sorely disappointed by Ma’s speech because “we had high hopes that he would not repeat the mistakes of the past administration by neglecting the rights of our people.”
More than 70 percent of Aboriginal voters supported Ma in the election, she said, “but it is obvious that Ma only has the economy in mind.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU AND CNA
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS