Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday said that his party’s presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), in his visit to the US would clearly tell friends in the international community that the KMT is the true defender of the Republic of China (ROC).
Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate, “promotes Taiwanese independence every day,” he said.
Chu’s comments came a day after Lai was quoted by Bloomberg Business as saying in an interview that “Taiwan is already a sovereign, independent country called the Republic of China.”
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
“And in respect to unifying Taiwanese society, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has used the term Republic of China [Taiwan] to describe our country. I will continue to do so in the future,” Lai was quoted as saying. “There are no plans to change the name of our country.”
In response, Chu said in a speech to the KMT Central Standing Committee that the KMT is the true defender of Taiwan’s constitutional order while the DPP has been working toward the formal independence of Taiwan.
“Lai, the golden grandchild of the Taiwanese independence movement and a self-avowed pro-independence politician, has supported Taiwanese independence every day of his life,” Chu said.
“Even Taiwanese independence supporters say that they would vote for Lai so that he can push for independence after taking office,” he added.
Support for Taiwanese independence is in Lai’s genes and he would not change “even if he lied to obtain votes and international support,” Chu said, adding that the KMT is the true guardian of Taiwan and the guarantor of peace in the Taiwan Strait.
Separately, Hou said that Lai in the past characterized himself as a pragmatic politician advocating for Taiwanese independence.
Considering Lai’s previous public comments, his recent claims about not seeking formal independence do not make sense, Hou said.
DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) yesterday slammed Chu in a Facebook post saying that his remarks are indistinguishable from those of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
“Is the KMT chairman lodging a complaint against Lai to Westerners on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party?” he asked.
Chu’s remarks breached the cardinal rule that a politician must put the nation above their private or partisan political interests when speaking to an international audience, Wang said, adding that politicians should refrain from complaining about political opponents to outsiders.
The KMT has achieved “a new low” in sharing Taiwan’s internal political disputes with the nation’s allies in a public manner, Wang said.
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-yu and Lai Hsiao-tung
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS