The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is considering boycotting the annual cross-Taiwan Strait Forum unless China Central Television (CCTV) apologizes and offers an explanation for a headline suggesting that the party was “suing for peace,” a senior KMT official said yesterday.
The KMT had on Tuesday announced that former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) would lead a KMT delegation to the forum, which is to open on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
However, a headline shown by CCTV, a mouthpiece of the Chinese government, during a program hosted by Li Hong (李紅) read: “With the [Taiwan] Strait on the brink of war, this man [Wang] is coming to the mainland to sue for peace.”
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Following the broadcast, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said on Facebook that the description is unacceptable and calls for an apology from the parties involved.
The footage was removed from CCTV’s Web site after the KMT protested the TV program.
KMT caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) late of Friday said on Facebook that “if China is so unfriendly toward us, then we need not attend the forum or go there carrying the Republic of China [ROC] flag. There is no ‘1992 consensus’ without the ROC’s existence.”
KMT Taipei City Councilor Yu Shu-hui (游淑慧) asked on Facebook: “Why should we attend the forum if we are being labeled like this?”
CCTV represents China’s official government stance, “so such derision has already put us in an awkward position... Do we have to attend the forum under any circumstances?” she asked.
In response to media queries yesterday, Chiang said the forum is for dialogue, not to “sue for peace,” adding that pursuing peace is the main objective of attending the forum.
“Working to reduce tensions between the two sides, and ensuring peace and security across the Strait: these are our duties as Taiwan’s largest opposition party, but this must not be vilified as ‘suing for peace,’ as we cannot accept such a description,” he added.
A senior party official said that Chiang, Wang and KMT Secretary-General Lee Chien-lung (李乾龍) would make a decision soon.
“However, Beijng’s reporting of Wang as suing for peace has damaged our friendship,” the official said.
The KMT would seek an apology from Li and might not send a delegation to the forum if Li does not apologize, they added.
“However, if Wang wants to participate [in the forum] in his personal capacity, then the KMT could not say no,” the official said.
Democratic Progressive Party spokeswoman Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳) said that “the KMT is still under the delusion that it might receive an apology from China, because it needs a good reason to attend. The KMT’s groveling behavior is like discarding one’s self-respect, and has harmed Taiwan’s national sovereignty and the mutual friendship. Surrendering its self-respect only confirms the ‘suing for peace’ description.”
New Power Party caucus whip Chiu Hsieng-chih (邱顯智) said that China has been using the forum to further its “united front” campaign.
“So the KMT should stop attending and instead defend Taiwan’s sovereignty,” he said.
“Especially with Chinese military aircraft encroaching on Taiwan’s airspace, attending the forum would really harm Taiwan,” Chiu said.
Taiwan People’s Party caucus convener Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) also urged the KMT to boycott the forum, “as the forum is a tool for China’s propaganda purposes, and it is not appropriate for the KMT to participate.”
Additional reporting by Huang Hsin-po, Chung Li-hua and CNA
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite