Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers reacted differently yesterday to comments in an Indian quarterly by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on the subject of a cross-strait peace accord.
While KMT lawmakers keenly supported Ma’s initiative to ink a peace accord with China during his term in office, DPP lawmakers were highly skeptical of such an agreement, expressing fears that it would undermine Taiwan’s independent status.
In an interview published in India and Global Affairs quarterly on Saturday, Ma said he hoped to pursue a peace pact with China during his term in office, in response to a question on whether he thought the more than 1,000 missiles targeted by Beijing on Taiwan would be removed during his presidency.
KMT Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) endorsed Ma’s efforts to make peace with China, saying that signing a cross-strait peace deal would be the right thing to do. But he cautioned that Ma still needs to overcome many challenges.
Lu called for a cross-strait bill and improved understanding with China to pave the way for the clinching of the proposed peace accord.
KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said that signing a cross-strait peace agreement would mean a normalization of bilateral relations. If that happened, Taiwan would enjoy greater international space and the prospects of peace in the strait, the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world would be better guaranteed, he said.
Lin praised Ma for putting forward what he called a politically far-reaching proposal.
DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲), however, opposed the idea of a cross-strait peace pact on the grounds that it would make Taiwan an appendage of China and push Taipei to embark on a path of unification with Beijing.
Kuan suggested that a referendum be held to decide whether the president should sign such a peace accord with China.
DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) accused Ma of preparing a big gift for the upcoming visit by China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) at the cost of Taiwanese interests by raising the proposal without setting any pre-conditions.
DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday there would be huge controversy if Ma proceeds with talks on a peace accord with China, given that people in Taiwan have very little confidence in him.
“Many people in Taiwan have little confidence in Ma’s handling of cross-strait affairs, and if he takes the lead to sign a peace accord with China, I believe it will be very controversial,” she said.
Tsai contended that a peace accord between Taiwan and China should be dealt with by someone who has the people’s trust.
“Negotiating or signing any peace accord will definitely involve the questions of sovereignty and national security,” Tsai said. “If these two questions cannot be properly addressed, a peace accord will harm the country.”
At a separate setting yesterday, Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Fu Don-cheng (傅棟成) said Ma proposed the signing of a peace treaty during his inaugural address.
As cross-strait negotiations are conducted step by step, Fu said, the government is well aware that “certain conditions” must be met before a peace agreement can be reached.
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