Independence advocates yesterday at a rally called on government leaders to “rectify” the nation’s official name as “Taiwan” as they denounced Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu’s (吳釗燮) remark of “not seeking formal ties with the US” during a media interview.
Organized by Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵), the advocates chanted slogans, such as “Taiwan is not the Republic of China [ROC],” and held a banner that read: “If the nation’s title is not corrected as ‘Taiwan,’ how can it fully establish diplomatic relations with the US?” as they gathered outside Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters in Taipei at noon.
Chen said that the vast majority of people identify as Taiwanese, not Chinese, and prefer “Taiwan” as the nation’s official name, instead of the “ROC,” which he said was a military-political regime of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) that fled China to illegally occupy Taiwan by force after losing the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
Photo: Jason Pan, Taipei Times
Chen cited the US’ Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 and the Taiwan Travels Act that was signed into law by US President Donald Trump last year as official documents that refer to the nation as “Taiwan.”
“Also, US Representative Tom Tiffany has introduced legislation calling for US to scrap the outdated ‘one China’ policy and resume formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan,” he said.
These examples show that Taiwan and the US have achieved the highest level of diplomatic relations, bilateral trade and business investment, as well as defense cooperation, in their history, Chen said, discounting the US’ relations with the nation prior to 1979 for involving the KMT’s ROC regime, not Taiwan.
“The US has undertaken military maneuvers to counter China’s hostile intrusion into Taiwan’s maritime and air space to help defend Taiwan and Asia-Pacific countries from Beijing’s warmongering aggression,” Chen said.
Sim Kientek, who heads the Provisional Government of Formosa organization, said that Taiwan does not belong to the ROC, while the ROC Constitution and its laws have no legitimacy and no jurisdiction over Taiwanese.
“Therefore it is long overdue to rectify nation’s name as ‘Taiwan.’ Only by doing so can we establish full normal diplomatic ties with the US and other countries,” Sim said.
“We request President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and the DPP leadership to declare to the world that we are the ‘Taiwan’ nation, and will have no claims to territories under China’s governance, and will draft a new constitution to reflect the current political reality,” Sim said at the rally.
Sim and Chen also said that Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) has been using the title “Taiwan Ambassador to the US” and Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) referred to himself as “Taiwan Ambassador to Japan” as did Representative to Germany Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉) who referred to himself as “Taiwan Ambassador to Germany.”
“They seem to have tacit approval from their respective host countries, so our government is getting ready to establish full diplomatic ties and also boost trade with these countries,” Chen said.
“We condemn Wu for his statement that Taiwan is not seeking full diplomatic relations with US at this moment during an interview with Washington-based National Public Radio,” he said.
“We vigorously protest Wu’s statements, as it is contrary to the wishes of Taiwanese,” Chen added. “We want to know if Wu is receiving instructions from President Tsai, or was he under political pressure to say so to hide some sensitive issues? Wu must fully explain this to the public.”
‘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
RSS