The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of denigrating the country by referring to it as the “Republic of China, Taiwan region” (中華民國台灣地區) on Monday.
While receiving Brian Mishara, president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, and recipients of the 2008 International Caring for Life Awards on Monday, Ma pledged that his administration would endeavor to reduce the suicide rate, adding that suicide was now the nation’s ninth leading cause of death.
Ma then said that “over the past 10 years, the number of suicides in the Republic of China, Taiwan region, had doubled, from 2,172 in 1997 to 4,406 in 2006, before falling to 3,933 last year.”
DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) told reporters yesterday that Ma should apologize immediately for the remark, as it degraded the nation’s sovereign status.
Ma had denied the existence of his own country, Lai said.
Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢), director of the DPP’s Policy Research Committee, said that Ma’s policies were leading Taiwan one little step at a time toward unification with China.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said yesterday that Ma should not have to apologize because his comment was not an issue.
“The Republic of China is an independent sovereignty,” Wang said.
“There is nothing wrong in the president referring to Taiwan as the Republic of China, Taiwan region, during a non-political occasion,” he said.
“The public should refrain from overinterpreting the president’s remarks, because they did not have any political meaning,” he said.
In Washington, DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that Taiwanese were increasingly wary of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government’s policy on China.
Tsai made the comments during a dinner banquet with Taiwanese expatriates after her arrival earlier in the day from New York City, which was the first leg of her two-week visit to the US.
“All of Taiwanese society has grave concerns about the KMT government’s stance toward China,” she said, adding that KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) was guilty of “seriously misjudging” the political situation.
Wu’s claim, shortly after a visit to China earlier this year, that “China does not intend to fire missiles at Taiwan” was misguided, Tsai said.
“In the face of Taiwan’s dwindling independent status and worsening economic situation, the DPP’s top priority is to protect national sovereignty, help improve the economy and take care of the underprivileged,” she said.
In addition to giving a speech at the Heritage Foundation, Tsai will meet US officials and aides from the Republican and Democratic parties before visiting Los Angeles on Friday and San Jose, California, on Sunday.
She is scheduled to return to Taipei on Tuesday.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RSS