Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday promoted “cross-strait integration” (兩岸統合) as a model for keeping peace between Taiwan and China, while announcing that she would be organizing activities to promote her ideas.
A series of national affairs forums is being planned to encourage public discussion about her political integration model, she said, addressing a gathering at the “Her-Story, 50 Years for New Women” special exhibition at Tainan’s Wu Family Garden.
Attending the event was former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), whose family is from Tainan.
Photo: Hung Jui-chin, Taipei Times
Lu said that “cross-strait integration” should replace “cross-strait unification” (兩岸統一), while calling on Beijing to take up the “one Zhonghua” (一個中華) concept, instead of “one China” (一個中國) idea.
Zhonghua means “Chinese.”
It is difficult to promote “unification,” as very few people in Taiwan would accept it, while integration can be discussed as it is broader in scope, Lu said.
The nations could then move toward forming a “Zhonghua confederation” (中華邦聯), which would encourage closer political and economic ties across the Strait, she said.
Lu has advocated the confederation model over the past few years.
She said her idea is based on the formation of the EU, or regional blocs such as ASEAN and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
“In facing the threat of war, the Taiwanese government must push its soft power... I am presenting these ideas because Taiwan’s ruling and opposition parties have not provided any new policies for cross-strait relations,” Lu said. “Our young people are lost, with no clear direction.”
To advocate her political ideas, Lu has is planning a rally dubbed “Peace and Love for Taiwan,” co-organized with several major religious organizations.
Lu’s idea is to promote peace in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The rally was scheduled for May 14, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak has been postponed to Aug. 14, she said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members in the audience were conspicuous in their lack of support for Lu’s ideas.
Chen said: “I will not talk about this today,” while other politicians also declined to comment.
Political experts have said that Lu has drifted from the DPP, and most party members and supporters disagree with most of her ideas.
Forming a confederation with China would mean giving up Taiwan’s sovereignty and democratic way of life, they said.
Professor Chang Cheng-shuh (張正修), a former political strategist for the DPP and a former Examination Yuan member, said that most DPP supporters see Lu as using her controversial concepts to get closer to the pro-China political camps.
“Most people now view Lu as a former politician who has outdated ideas, and has no popular support, so she has taken up more far-out positions to ... gain public attention and media coverage,” Chang said. “Lu is trying to stay relevant ... but she is out of touch with the current generation.”
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS