The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) deputy legislative caucus whip said yesterday that the government’s UN strategy had “broken the hearts of the Taiwanese people.”
Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) was referring to this year’s UN bid submitted to the UN Secretariat on Thursday by representatives of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Solomon Islands, two of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The proposal marks a fresh approach by the government in pushing for UN entry for Taiwan since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) assumed office on May 20.
The new proposal, submitted ahead of this year’s UN General Assembly meeting set to open on Sept. 16, is significant in that it does not mention the name Taiwan nor the entity of the Republic of China seeking to return to the world body.
The ministry said the proposal was based on the principles of “dignity, pragmatism and flexibility.”
Pan said that Ma’s proposed “diplomatic truce” with China was hypocritical, a sign of surrender and a downgrading of Taiwan’s status.
The proposal to the UN caters to “Ma’s stance of capitulation” and by omitting the name Taiwan, does not demonstrate the Taiwanese resolve to join the international community, Pan said.
Meanwhile, DPP legislative whip Chang Hwa-kuan (張花冠) said Taiwan’s sovereignty should be insisted upon at all times, regardless of the international situation.
Saying that membership in the UN gives a country “legitimacy,” Chang asked how the government can put forward a proposal that does not include the country’s name.
“If we don’t even insist on our name, then we can’t be considered a country. And if that’s the case, then we don’t need foreign relations,” he said, asking whether the government was planning to abolish the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and downgrade the government’s status to that of a local government.
DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) said Ma’s recent downplaying of his status as president during his transit stop in the US was aimed at catering to China’s demands, adding that the president has acted like “he wants to be a model student of Beijing.”
The UN bid is the same in that it is based on a desire to avoid angering Beijing, Chai said, adding that the bid has “cheated the Taiwanese.”
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but