The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused an academic affiliated with a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) think tank of making false accusations over DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) policy proposal on the South China Sea.
In a letter to the editor published in the Chinese-language China Times yesterday, Edward Chen (陳一新), a professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of the Americas, said he is worried Tsai might give up the Republic of China’s claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea, breaking the cross-strait “status quo.”
Chen said in the letter that he is worried because Tsai said that she would handle the South China Sea issue according to international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Chen said Tsai’s “proactive peace diplomacy” policy proposal is similar to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “proactive pacifism,” adding that Tsai might look to the US for her foreign policy, causing concern that Tsai may break the cross-strait “status quo” on the South China Sea.
DPP spokesperson Juan Chao-hsiung (阮昭雄) yesterday slammed Chen over the article, saying it contained false accusations.
“It’s a rather irresponsible act for Chen, an academic and a professor, to make baseless and biased remarks affiliated with certain political ideology,” Juan told a press conference. “Chen is yet to apologize for his false remarks last time and is already making new ones.”
“He is obviously ignoring academic ethics and intentionally trying to misguide public opinion; such an act would only make people cast doubt on his academic and professional judgements,” Juan added.
Juan said the DPP has explained its stance on the South China Sea clearly, that is, the DPP will not give up Taiwan’s sovereignty claim, but would handle the controversial parts according to international law, namely the UNCLOS, so that the controversies may be solved peacefully under an international mechanism.
“This is an important basis on which the surrounding countries may reach a consensus,” Juan said. “Tsai also insists that [anyone’s] right to sail freely on the high seas should be protected; this is the DPP’s stance on the issue.”
Juan urged Chen to show more self-respect and refrain from becoming a propaganda agent for the KMT.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
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
RSS