The controversial “one country, two areas (一國兩區)” concept proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) could jeopardize Taiwan’s sovereignty, political analysts said yesterday.
The analysts said the proposal, which was touted by former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) during a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) on March 22 in Beijing, has “sold out Taiwan’s sovereignty in an irreversible way.”
As to why President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration had chosen to make the proposal at this moment in time, it “could be either a reward for Beijing’s support of his re-election campaign or a gateway for upcoming political talks,” former representative to the US Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said at a forum organized by the Taiwan -Association of University Professors.
“Ma’s acceptance of the political framework of ‘one country, two areas’ has opened the door for the political talks that China’s leaders are eager to start,” Wu added.
Hu said on Dec. 31, 2008, that political negotiations according to China’s Taiwan policy would be based on the “one China” principle and include ending cross-strait -hostilities, signing a peace agreement and introducing military -confidence-building measures.
“Ma has never challenged Beijing’s roadmap,” Wu said.
Wu added that his biggest concern was an end to hostilities, which would effectively mean the end of the Chinese civil war between the Chinese Communist Party and the KMT, because Taiwan would “never be able to break away from the ‘one China’ framework after that.”
Not only did the proposal violate the Republic of China Constitution, former minister of national defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) said, it also undermined Taiwan’s security.
The “warming” of cross-strait ties and the political implications that underpin the “one country, two areas” proposal has placed the nation’s armed forces in a difficult position because now they do not know “whether China is a friend or foe,” he said.
While both sides of the Taiwan Strait have reaped benefits from reduced cross-strait tensions, the number of Chinese missiles aimed at Taiwan and the number of Chinese submarines intruding into Taiwan’s territorial waters has -continued to increase, he added.
Wu and Tsai both said a national referendum should be the “last line of defense” for Taiwanese if the nation’s sovereignty is brought into question at some point in the future.
Former National Security Council deputy secretary-general Parris Chang (張旭成) told the forum that the “one country, two areas” represented a step backward from the positions of two former presidents — Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) “state-to-state relations” and Chen Shui--bian’s (陳水扁) “one country on each side” of the Taiwan Strait.
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
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
RSS