A state-run Chinese newspaper yesterday denounced Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as narrow-minded and selfish after she criticized the historic meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore on Saturday.
Ma and Xi shook hands and smiled for the media before entering a closed-door session at the Shangri-La Hotel on Saturday afternoon, marking a symbolic milestone in the cross-strait relationship since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
Tsai blasted Ma for “failing to stand up for democracy” and freedom, and for not describing Taiwan as the Republic of China.
In a post on her Facebook page on Sunday, Tsai accused Ma of trying to “limit Taiwan’s future... to achieve his own political status.”
The Global Times newspaper — which has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — said in an editorial that Tsai had “made gaffes,” describing her as “wrathful” in an attempt to “belittle the meeting.”
She had “exposed her support for ‘Taiwan independence,’” it added.
“Tsai’s demand has revealed her narrow mind and extreme political selfishness of putting votes above peaceful development across the Strait,” the paper said.
Relations between Beijing and Taipei have grown closer since Ma’s 2008 election, with increases in trade and tourism, as well as the start of direct flights.
However, popular concern about Beijing’s influence is growing in Taiwan and the DPP looks set to win January’s presidential election.
The Global Times warned of “powerful countermoves from the mainland” if Tsai pursues independence once taking office.
“She might have a quicker and uglier defeat if she does not learn from Chen being crushed,” it said, referring to former DPP president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Chen was imprisoned for 20 years in 2008 on corruption charges, but was released on medical parole in January.
“The future of Taiwan must be decided by 1.3 billion Chinese, including those in Taiwan,” it said.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
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