Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Julian Kuo (郭正亮) yesterday promoted his proposal to freeze the Taiwanese independence clause in the party’s charter, saying that it is aimed at maintaining the nation’s “status quo,” which would help the party in the next presidential race, but agreeing that its adoption could be pushed back until after the year-end local elections.
Before attending the launch of a book about DPP Legislator Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), the party’s nominee for the Greater Taichung mayoral poll in November’s local elections, Kuo said the US wants a Taiwan that maintains the “status quo,” which is why it supported the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in the 2012 presidential election.
“The idea of freezing the Taiwan independence clause is to maintain the ‘status quo’ in the hope that the US will be neutral in the 2016 presidential election,” Kuo said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Kuo said he was under no illusion that the Chinese Communist Party would support the DPP if it froze the clause, but does believe it would allow Washington to be neutral in the next presidential poll.
The independence clause of the DPP charter adopted in 1991 calls for the creation of the “Republic of Taiwan” and a new constitution.
Kuo’s proposal, cosponsored by many other DPP delegates, was briefly discussed at the national party congress on Sunday, until DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) decided to refer it to the Central Executive Committee for discussion and, if necessary, deal with it at a future congress.
Kuo said that the nationwide nine-in-one elections to be held on Nov. 29 are the party’s top priority right now and discussion of the proposal could wait until after the elections or the Lunar New Year holiday early next year.
By waiting, the DPP could ride the crest of success in the local elections and the momentum of choosing the party’s presidential candidate in May next year to help the measure pass at the next national congress in July of that year, Kuo said.
In other news, a Chinese academic has argued that that the DPP remains the biggest hurdle for the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, a digital Chinese media outlet reported.
Zhou Zhihuai (周志懷), director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Taiwan Studies, made the remarks at a cross-strait relations seminar that opened in Qinghai Province yesterday, www.crntt.com reported.
Zhou said that as the two sides of the Taiwan Strait make major progress on peacefully developing relations, four issues have arisen:
After Tsai was re-elected as DPP chair in May, she said that “freezing the Taiwan Independence clause would require a lot of time” and that “China will adjust to the DPP after it triumphs in the year-end local elections,” Zhou was reported as saying. “This shows that the DPP is still the biggest hurdle to the peaceful development of cross-strait ties.”
Another issue was the mass protest in March against the cross-strait services trade agreement — dubbed the Sunflower movement — which Zhou said shows that while Taiwanese are supportive of the peaceful development of bilateral ties, they have misunderstandings and misgivings about the future course of these relations.
Also, the existing political differences between the two sides have become more salient and both parties need to address them squarely, he said.
Finally, Taiwan is to stage two major electoral events soon — the year-end local elections and the 2016 presidential poll — which will create uncertainty for the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, Zhou said.
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
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
‘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
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
RSS