Response to the “broad one-China framework” proposed by former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-te (施明德) and former National Security Council secretary-general Su Chi (蘇起) from the major political parties, academia and the Presidential Office has been at best lukewarm and non-committal, if not openly critical.
DPP spokesman Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said the party would respect the plurality of thought in a liberal society, adding however that Taiwan’s future must be decided by its 23 million nationals.
Newly elected DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) office spokesperson Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) said similar ideas were raised in the past and the resurfacing of such comments highlighted the lack of unified national consensus on cross-strait affairs.
“We hope to achieve a national consensus on the subject through transparent and democratic means in the future,” Hung said.
Taiwan Solidarity Union Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) criticized the idea as “the repackaging of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) ‘ultimate unification.’”
Whether one called the policy “broad one China” or “narrow one China” (小一中), the People’s Republic of China is regarded as the sole legal representative of China by the international community, Huang said.
Taiwanese are against the “one China” policy and repackaging the policy under a new name would receive no better treatment, Huang said.
China is to blame for all the animosity in cross-strait affairs as Taiwan had abolished the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion (動員戡亂時期臨時條款) under then-acting president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in 1991, while China enacted the anti-secession law in 2004, Huang said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said the KMT and the Ma administration’s view on the matter was based on the Republic of China Constitution and “one China, with different interpretations” (一中各表), adding that any sort of dialogue on cross-strait affairs was good, regardless of whether the ideas conformed to the KMT’s stance.
Presidential Office spokesperson Yin Wei (殷瑋) said the president hoped to maintain the “status quo” and the “three noes” policy — no unification, no independence, no use of force (不統, 不獨, 不武) — brought up during his presidential election campaign prior to 2008.
National Chengchi University (NCCU) professor Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said that according to today’s announcement, both of the major political parties have achieved consensus on cross-strait issues, but it remained up to China whether such a viewpoint is acceptable.
Meanwhile, Chinese democracy activist Wang Dan (王丹) said on Facebook that he did not understand what “China” in the “broad one-China framework” meant.
No specifics were given and until further information clarifying such a concept, it is not a new concept, Wang said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS