Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) has resigned as an adviser to the Taichung City Government in the wake of a heavily criticized trip to China.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the city government said Hsia, who departed for China on Wednesday and is undergoing 10 days of COVID-19 quarantine, tendered his resignation on Friday.
The city government added that it respects his wishes, and expressed gratitude for his contributions and assistance to Taichung.
Photo: Taipei Times, file photo
Hsia is visiting as Beijing continues a high-pressure military and economic campaign against Taiwan in retaliation for a 19-hour visit to Taipei by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Aug. 2 and 3.
Hsia’s trip has drawn criticism not only from the Democratic Progressive Party, but also from colleagues inside the KMT.
The city government said Hsia told Taichung Deputy Mayor Bruce Linghu (令狐榮達) that the controversy surrounding his trip had caused trouble for the city government, so he would resign as an adviser and a member of the city’s international affairs committee.
Although Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) — who is also a KMT member and had said the trip came at an inappropriate time — urged him to stay on, Hsia insisted on stepping down, the city government said.
Among the critics of Hsia’s trip to China, the Mainland Affairs Council said the visit could cause confusion in the international community about how Taiwanese perceive China’s military threat.
Inside the KMT, New Taipei Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) called the merits of visiting China at this moment “debatable,” as the country should be united in the face of Beijing’s rising military threat.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), who has supported Hsia’s trip, on Saturday said that Taiwan and China need a channel to engage in exchanges and communication amid escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
Although he acknowledged that Hsia’s trip could adversely affect the KMT in the November local elections, Chu said the visit is a positive move for Taiwan.
Separately yesterday, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) reiterated Taiwan’s resolution to defend its sovereignty, dignity, democracy and freedom in the face of Chinese threats.
“There are many democracies in the world faced with suppression from authoritarian countries. Taiwan also faces threats from China and we are reminded by professor Peng that democracy and freedom are Taiwan’s biggest assets, the values that Taiwanese in this generation must unite and safeguard,” she said at a ceremony in Taipei honoring Taiwanese democracy pioneer Peng Ming-min (彭明敏), who passed away on April 8.
Additional reporting by Chen Yun
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
RSS