Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday criticized the implementation of China’s “one country, two systems” formula in Hong Kong and urged Taiwanese to work together to protect the nation.
“Even beggars would run away” if the formula were implemented in Taiwan in the same manner as it is being executed in Hong Kong, Ko said during a question-and-answer session at the Taipei City Council.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chiang Chih-ming (江志銘) said that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former premier William Lai (賴清德), who have registered as candidates for the DPP’s presidential primary, have both promised to “protect the nation.”
Photo: CNA
It is speculated that Ko will announce a presidential bid, Chiang said and asked him to clarify his stance on protecting Taiwan.
“Even a beggar should protect Taiwan, not only the president, because protecting Taiwan is everyone’s responsibility,” Ko said.
Chiang said the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) potential presidential candidates have expressed their opinions about the “one country, two systems” framework and the so-called “1992 consensus,” and asked the mayor to explain his views.
Ko said the terms have become mere labels in Taiwan and that no one understands what the “1992 consensus” really means.
“If the ‘one country, two systems’ formula [intended for Taiwan] is like the ‘Hong Kong model,’ then everyone would run away,” he said, adding that China has to explain what it means.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Chen Yi-chun (陳怡君) asked Ko to comment on Chinese Minister of National Defense General Wei Fenghe’s (魏鳳和) remark on Sunday that the Chinese military would fight at all costs if anyone dared to “split Taiwan from China” and that the Tiananmen Square Massacre 30 years ago was the “correct” decision to ensure stability.
The massacre is “a tragedy in China’s modern history involving Chinese killing Chinese,” Ko said, adding: “We need to strengthen our national defense, because the more Wei speaks about it, the more Taiwanese are afraid.”
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and