Beijing’s guidelines banning Chinese media from using the name “Republic of China (ROC)” — Taiwan’s official title — is “overkill,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said yesterday.
“The ROC’s existence is an established fact... If even the term ‘ROC’ is to be censored, I doubt there is a better way [to refer to the nation],” Lin said in response to media queries for comments.
In a move intended to increase pressure on Taiwan, China’s official Xinhua news agency published a set of guidelines for Chinese media when referring to Taiwanese authorities, including a ban on using the Taiwanese version of the so-called “1992 consensus.”
The “1992 consensus” — a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The list also bans Chinese media from using the term “president/vice president of the ROC,” instead instructing them to use “leader/deputy leader of the Taiwan authorities.”
Chinese media are also forbidden from saying “Taiwan presidential election” and are required to describe such events as “leadership elections in the Taiwan area” or “Taiwan’s general election.”
Even the use of the phrase “Taiwan government” is not allowed, as is any reference to Taiwanese governmental agencies at the “national” or “central government” level, the Xinhua list says.
Banning the terms would make it more difficult for Taiwan and China to arrive at any sort of consensus, Lin said, calling on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to increase the level of goodwill toward each other to meet people’s expectations for cross-strait rapport and security.
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister and spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) on Thursday urged the Chinese media to “fully report reality and respect the fact that the ROC exists.”
“Beijing is suppressing and manipulating freedom of the press and severely restricting the rights of Chinese” by prohibiting the Chinese media from using terms that depict the facts, Chiu said.
By banning so many terms, China is drawing attention to its inability to objectively and practically view the real cross-strait situation, he added.
“Such a policy reflects the Chinese leadership’s intransigent thinking and inclination to create an impasse, which will widen the knowledge gap between Taiwan and China and deter mutual understanding,” Chiu said.
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
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
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
RSS