Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday denounced a comment by a top aide of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), saying that his statement “Taiwan is not a country” denigrates the nation’s sovereignty.
“Taiwan is not a part of China, and neither side is subordinate to the other. Most Taiwanese do not agree with the remark by Ma’s aide. If he believes it, then we want to ask, which country was Ma elected president of?” DPP caucus whip Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said.
“We know that Ma is trying to enhance his standing by visiting China in a bid to set up a second meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), but talk by Ma and his aides have ignored the present-day political reality and have harmed Taiwanese,” Wu added.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Republic
“Right now, we have many foreign friends speaking up for Taiwan, helping to strengthen our status and links with democratic countries. Only the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and their officials are working with China to undermine our own government,” Wu said.
Ma is planning to visit China from Monday next week to April 11 with a group of students to tour Chinese historical and cultural sites and schools, while making stops in Guangdong, Shaanxi and Beijing, Ma Ying-jeou Culture and Education Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said earlier this week.
“Ma of course hopes there is an opportunity to see an old friend,” Hsiao said when asked about potential arrangements for Ma to meet with Xi.
Hsiao also said that, according to the Constitution, “Taiwan is not a sovereign and independent country.”
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Lin I-chin (林宜瑾) said Ma and Hsiao were “kowtowing to Beijing” while it is preparing a military invasion.
“We also want to ask KMT members and Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫): Do all of you support this political stance? How many times do we have to hear thise pro-China and defeatist talk from Ma and other KMT officials?” Lin asked.
“We suspect such talk is to appease Beijing as conditions for getting a meeting with Xi,” DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said, adding that Ma was ignoring the current international situation.
“We are seeing China create conflict in the South China Sea, leading the US, Japan and the Philippines to forge an alliance with democratic countries to condemn China’s ‘gray zone’ tactics,” he said.
“We see KMT lawmakers demanding President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) visit Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島). When this got turned down, KMT lawmakers organized their own trip to the island and now Ma will go visit China next week,” Wang added.
“All these are seen as Taiwanese lawmakers standing up to support China under the current circumstances, and thereby Taiwan could be subjected to condemnation by the international community, as military tensions are rising in the region. This is not what Taiwanese wish to see,” he said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
A man in Tainan has been cleared on charges of public insult after giving the middle finger during a road rage incident, as judges deemed the gesture was made “briefly to express negative feelings.” In last week’s ruling at the High Court’s Tainan branch, judges acquitted a driver, surnamed Cheng (程), for an incident along Tainan’s Nanmen Road in September 2023, when Cheng had spotted a place to park his car in an adjacent lane. Cheng slowed down his vehicle to go into reverse, to back into the parking spot, but the car behind followed too closely, as its driver thought Cheng
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
RSS