Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was not qualified to be the president of the country because of his stubbornness in signing an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China despite strong opposition from the public.
“Ma said he would write me a letter to invite me to talk with him [about the ECFA issue]. But if he only wants to use the occasion to have me endorse the ECFA, the meeting is totally unnecessary,” Tsai said.
Ma on Friday reiterated the government’s determination to sign an ECFA with China, saying it would prevent Taiwan from being marginalized amid regional economic development.
Stressing the urgency of the economic pact, Ma said the government planned to exchange ideas about the agreement with Beijing during the forthcoming round of cross-strait talks between Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), scheduled for May or June in the Chinese capital.
Ma said that he expected more substantial details to be discussed after the third round of talks and that the two sides could reach a conclusion on certain details of the agreement by the end of this year.
Criticizing Ma as “missing the point,” Tsai yesterday said the president should solicit views from the opposition first, not make up his mind about what he wants to do and only then seek endorsement from the opposition.
“Dialogue with the president is pointless if he does not want to hear the opposition’s view,” Tsai said.
A number of pro-localization groups including Taiwan Association of University Professors and the Taiwan National Alliance are considering holding a protest on May 17 over Ma’s performance and the government’s proposal to sign an ECFA with China.
The date was selected to coincide with Ma’s first anniversary in office.
When asked for comment, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday urged independence groups to stay calm, and said protests would not be the best way to solve the problem.
“A rally won’t fix the economic crisis and other problems. It would be better if they gave solid advice to the government, rather than criticizing it all the time,” Wu said yesterday after attending a Hakka community forum in Taipei.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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