Reiterating her party’s stance on maintaining the “status quo” in cross-strait relations, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday criticized Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) possible attendance at the annual forum between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the KMT, saying Taiwan-China relations were being turned into party-to-party relations.
Asked by the media to comment on a likely encounter between Chu and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at an annual forum hosted by the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) slated for next month, Tsai called for the KMT to differentiate between KMT-CCP exchanges and cross-strait relations, which involve all Taiwanese and are not exclusive to any particular party.
She said that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has handled cross-strait affairs as if they were business between the KMT and CCP, thereby incurring setbacks and provoking public anger.
She called for the KMT not to repeat that mistake by subjugating cross-strait relations to the KMT-CCP framework, which she said would compromise Taiwan’s national interests.
“It is the DPP’s responsibility to maintain stability across the Taiwan Strait,” she said.
Responding to the KMT’s criticism that the DPP has not clarified its China policy and has failed to define the “status quo” that it pledges to maintain, Tsai said that the peaceful and stable relations that Taiwan has developed with China constitute that “status quo.”
However, Tsai said that the pan-blue camp led by the KMT would not be satisfied unless the DPP is squarely on its side, but the DPP and the KMT differ on China policy.
In related news, responding to the DPP’s decision on Thursday to have maintaining the “status quo” across the Strait as its fundamental principle, the US Department of State said yesterday that it welcomes any step to ease tension between the sides of the Taiwan Strait, and would encourage more constructive dialogue between Taipei and Beijing.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) did not directly address the decision, only saying that “recognizing that both sides of the Strait belong to one China is the keystone to cross-strait relations,” and that history has taught that insisting on Taiwanese independence would destabalize ties.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese
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