Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday defended a controversial trip to China by party Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) as “brave,” even as Hsia faced protests upon his return to Taiwan.
The timing of Hsia’s trip generated controversy, as the KMT delegation arrived in China on Aug. 10, six days after Beijing launched a high-pressure military and economic campaign against Taiwan following US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei from Aug. 2 to 3.
Chu said that Hsia and other members of the delegation were “very brave and determined,” and it was important to keep lines of communication open to prevent conflict.
Photo: CNA
Members of Taiwan Statebuilding Party on Saturday led a protest at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport upon Hsia’s arrival, holding signs saying that he was selling out Taiwan and demanding that Hsia and the members of his delegation be sent back to China.
During a virtual news conference held shortly after returning, Hsia said the trip across the Taiwan Strait was aimed at looking after the needs of Taiwanese living in China.
He said he used his meetings with Chinese officials to convey the concerns of the Taiwanese community in the country over Beijing’s military drills around Taiwan.
He told his hosts that the military exercises were not helpful to peaceful development, and that the vast majority of Taiwanese were uneasy, worried and dissatisfied with the drills, he said.
The Mainland Affairs Council said that Hsia was playing politics ahead of November’s local elections and that his visit played into Beijing’s “united front” efforts.
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
Israel yesterday said it has begun preparations for the departure of large numbers of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in line with US President Donald Trump’s plan for the territory, while Egypt has launched a diplomatic blitz behind the scenes to try and head off the plan. The Trump administration has already dialed back aspects of the proposal after it was widely rejected internationally, saying the relocation of Palestinians would be temporary. US officials have provided few details about how or when the plan would be carried out. Trump yesterday said that Israel would turn Gaza over to the US after the
RSS