Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said the party does not “oppose everything related to China” as many people believe and has begun adjusting its China policy to make it more flexible and able to adapt to the changing dynamics of cross-strait relations.
Su’s comments came in response to a survey conducted by the DPP’s poll center, which found that 40.3 percent of respondents said the DPP’s mentality of “opposing everything related to China” was not acceptable.
The poll results were presented at meeting of the DPP’s China Affairs Committee on Thursday.
The survey conducted earlier this month, with 1,433 valid responses, found that 42.2 percent of the respondents said they were more comfortable with the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) China policy, while 35.2 percent were comfortable with the DPP’s.
The poll found that 45.7 percent of the respondents supported the KMT’s attitude toward exchanges with China, while 31.4 percent supported the DPP’s approach.
The least favorable side of the DPP’s China policy was its stance of opposing anything when it came to China, according to 40.7 percent of the respondents.
The poll found that 37.4 percent of the respondents felt the KMT was too accommodating to China’s demands, which they disliked.
Among the seven aspects of the two parties’ China policy, the DPP only has more public support — 36.5 percent — for its social policies than the KMT (32.1 percent).
In terms of overall policy, 35.2 percent of those polled said their stance on China issues is closer to that of the DPP, while 41.1 percent identified with the KMT’s stance.
Citing the cross-strait service trade agreement, Su said the DPP did not oppose the signing of the pact, but did demand the government safeguard the interests of the weak, national security and the universal values of freedom and democracy in its engagement with China.
Proof that the DPP has changed its approach to China affairs could be seen by the party demanding the service trade pact be renegotiated, while it had been flatly opposed to the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement signed in 2010.
There are certain matters the DPP must oppose, such as China’s “Anti-Secession” Law, which authorizes the use of “non-peaceful means” against Taiwan, Su said.
“The DPP is a democratic party that upholds Taiwan’s values,” he said. “It will not give up [the values] that need to be upheld. As for areas that it needs to do better, it will work harder on them.”
Meanwhile, former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), said the “right attitude” toward cross-strait exchanges was important, but the DPP might give the public a “fresh image” if it shows itself to be aggressively pushing for exchanges with China.
She said the DPP’s China policy had given an impression of “not being stable enough,” creating fears that it might incur “unpredictable dangers.”
However, the party should not talk lightly about changing its “basic stance,” she said, referring to another survey which indicated that the DPP’s “basic stance” in regard to Taiwan’s independence and unification with China was actually closer to the “public mood.”
That survey found that on a scale of zero to 10, with zero meaning unification with China and 10 meaning de jure independence for Taiwan, the KMT scored 3.33 and the DPP scored 6.90 — closer to the public mood, which stood at 6.20.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS