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
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