The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday criticized comments by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) during his meeting in Shanghai with top officials of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) as disparaging to the government and adhering to Beijing’s denigration of Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Hsia is representing the KMT’s official position in kowtowing to Beijing and placing all the blame on Taiwan regarding last month’s collision between a coast guard ship and a Chinese boat, DPP Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said.
Heading a KMT delegation on a seven-day visit to China, Hsia held talks with TAO Director Song Tao (宋濤) in Shanghai on Thursday, in which Song condemned the government for “acting in cold blood, with total disregard for human lives” in the Feb. 14 incident that killed two Chinese fishers in waters adjacent to Kinmen County.
Photo: CNA
Taiwanese officials said that the unflagged and unregistered boat attempted to flee from the coast guard vessel in a zigzag motion, causing it to collide with the Taiwanese ship and capsize.
China has repeatedly condemned Taiwan over the incident and stepped up its coast guard patrols around Kinmen, including boarding a Taiwanese tourism vessel last month and crossing into the “restricted” zone around the county.
Song said that the Taiwanese government and its coast guard were responsible for the callous action resulting in the two deaths, and “China is determined to uphold the legal rights of Chinese fishers working at sea, including to protect their property and personal safety.”
Chinese state media quoted Hsia as saying in response: “The KMT would monitor and urge the DPP government to treat this matter properly, and must work to find out the truth as soon as possible.”
Hsia was also quoted as saying that “the KMT will always uphold the ‘1992 consensus,’ and will always oppose Taiwanese independence,” and that his party would work to positively influence cross-strait relations.
“So we see this is the real face of the KMT... They are supposed to stand up for Taiwan, but instead they are colluding with China to blame what happened on our own coast guard personnel,” Lin said.
“He also spoke of accepting China’s ‘1992 consensus,’ and forcing Taiwanese to go along with it,” Lin said. “This amounts to colluding with the enemy to surrender Taiwan’s sovereignty.”
“Instead of protecting Taiwan, KMT officials are opening up the gates to China, working to hand over Taiwan for Beijing to rule over. We cannot accept such KMT capitulation to China,” she said.
Separately, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) told reporters that Hsia’s comments were inappropriate.
“During the Feb. 14 incident, coast guard personnel followed the law and engagement rules ... but we regret that the Chinese government has deliberately distorted what took place and has vilified the action by our side,” Chen said. “What Hsia said in Shanghai was improper and not fair, and it has tarnished the diligent and difficult work undertaken by our coast guard personnel.”
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