Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) made a proposal for resolving the territorial dispute over the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) during a visit to New York on Sunday, saying that all the claimants should agree not to develop the resources in the area.
She also suggested establishing a peace zone, extending 12 nautical miles (22.2km) from the Diaoyutais, within which no military or nuclear activities would be allowed.
Lu told Chinese-language media in New York that her ideas on the issue are similar to those presented by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in his East China Sea peace initiative last year, except that she does not think there should be any moves toward jointly developing the rich natural resources in the area.
Once such development starts, “national interests will definitely surface,” destroying any agreements, Lu said.
The Diaoyutais, known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Archipelago (釣魚群島) in China, lie about 100 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan and are claimed by Taiwan, Japan and China.
Lu said she supports Ma’s peace initiative, in which he advocates shelving all sovereignty disputes over the East China Sea island chain until the claimants reach an acceptable and peaceful resolution.
She said the disputed area should be designated as a marine conservation zone that would serve as a natural marine park for future generations.
She is in New York on the second leg of a two-week visit to the US that began with a stop in Seattle, Washington.
Lu is scheduled to meet Taiwanese expatriates in New York and give speeches at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Universal Peace Federation on her vision for the development of the Asia-Pacific region.
Also on her itinerary was a meeting yesterday with Taiwanese-Canadian fashion designer Jason Wu (吳季剛), who shot to fame in 2009, when US first lady Michelle Obama wore one his designs at the presidential inaugural ball.
During the meeting, Lu is expected to invite Wu to design “an energy-efficient shirt with Taiwanese characteristics.”
It should be a functional shirt that would be comfortable to wear to work and would keep the wearer cool in the summer, she said.
With Wu’s reputation, such a shirt would not only help promote Taiwan in the international community, but also help save energy because it would reduce the need for heavy use of air conditioners in offices, Lu said.
The idea is part of her campaign for a nuclear-free homeland in Taiwan, she said.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
RSS