Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members yesterday condemned China’s live-fire exercises near Taiwan, saying it undermines regional peace and would only push Taiwanese sentiment further from China.
Officials from democratic nations regularly visit each other’s countries, DPP spokeswoman Hsieh Pei-fen (謝佩芬) said in a statement, referring to US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan this week.
The international community has condemned China’s military intimidation, she added.
Photo: Hsu Cho-hsun, Taipei Times
“They have chosen among the world’s busiest civilian airspaces and sea lanes for their live-fire exercises. This unilateral action disregards its international obligations,” Hsieh said.
She said that Pelosi’s trip had the support of 26 US opposition senators, including US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Many of the world’s democratic nations also endorsed Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, while opposing China’s response of military intimidation, Hsieh said.
“It shows that China’s actions run counter to democratic values cherished by the international world,” she said.
The DPP thanked Pelosi and her delegation, and voiced appreciation for the support from European, US and G7 dignitaries.
“Although engagement among democracies might be met by intimidation, these cannot stop us from developing closer ties based on shared democratic values,” she said.
At various public events yesterday, well-known DPP figures suggested that Taiwan should continue forging stronger links with the US and other countries, as China’s belligerent response is undermining worldwide peace and security.
Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said that China’s actions are unwise.
“It only pulls the hearts and minds of Taiwanese further from China,” he said.
Taiwan is significantly different from China in its rule of law and democratic framework, he said.
“Taiwanese enthusiastically welcomed Pelosi, because we have freedom in our vibrant democratic society,” former Hsinchu mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) said.
“We very much welcome more foreign friends to visit Taiwan and see Taiwanese living in a free, democratic country,” he said.
“People here expect continuing economic growth and prosperity, and no one wants Chinese military intimidation, which has been going on for many years,” he added.
“The international community cannot accept China’s hostile action, as Taiwan is seeking to engage and enhance ties with other countries,” Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tseng (鄭文燦) said.
“We heard top G7 officials condemn China for threatening regional stability,” he added.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
A woman who allegedly spiked the food and drinks of an Australian man with rat poison, leaving him in intensive care, has been charged with attempted murder, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. The woman, identified by her surname Yang (楊), is accused of repeatedly poisoning Alex Shorey over the course of several months last year to prevent the Australian man from leaving Taiwan, prosecutors said in a statement. Shorey was evacuated back to Australia on May 3 last year after being admitted to intensive care in Taiwan. According to prosecutors, Yang put bromadiolone, a rodenticide that prevents blood from
China is likely to focus on its economy over the next four years and not set a timetable for attempting to annex Taiwan, a researcher at Beijing’s Tsinghua University wrote in an article published in Foreign Affairs magazine on Friday. In the article titled “Why China isn’t scared of Trump: US-Chinese tensions may rise, but his isolationism will help Beijing,” Chinese international studies researcher Yan Xuetong (閻學通) wrote that the US and China are unlikely to go to war over Taiwan in the next four years under US president-elect Donald Trump. While economic and military tensions between the US and China would
RSS