Tue, Jul 22, 2014 - Page 8
For the time being, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is able to evade the controversial proposal to freeze the party’s Taiwan independence clause after DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) sent it to the party’s Central Executive Committee for further discussion at the party congress on Sunday.
Rest assured that the issue is set to cause infighting and fiery debate within the party in the future. When it comes to independence, things have always been complex.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Initiators of the controversial proposal to freeze the Taiwan independence clause in the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) charter yesterday said that DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) reserving the proposal for future discussion was a “wise decision.”
“[Tsai’s handling of the proposal] was good for the party... I respect her move. It was a wise decision,” former DPP legislator Chen Zau-nan (陳昭南), who drafted the proposal with former DPP legislator Julian Kuo (郭正亮), told a radio interview hosted by Clara Chou (周玉蔻).
FREEZE ENOUGH:In response to protests, Chen Zau-nan said that the nation has been independent ever since it began democratic elections, so declaring it is not an issue
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Debate among Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members over whether the party should freeze the Taiwan independence clause in its charter arose again yesterday ahead of a party congress to be held on Sunday.
A group of pro-independence advocates expressed strong opposition to a proposal to freeze the clause by protesting in front of the DPP’s headquarters in Taipei yesterday and called for the proposal’s initiators, former DPP legislators Julian Kuo (郭正亮) and Chen Zau-nan (陳昭南), to resign from the party.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
If the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is able to do well in the seven-in-one elections in November, Beijing would have no option but to adjust its strategy toward the party because it has always been pragmatic, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in an interview.
“Simply put, whoever seizes the momentum, others would shift toward the powerful side,” Tsai said in response to a question about the DPP’s relations with Beijing in an interview with the Chinese-language CommonWealth Magazine published on Wednesday.
‘DOUBLE STANDARD’:The groups said Zhang Zhijun’s visit comes at a bad time after the TAO’s recent remarks, and Ma was weak on China, but hawkish on other nations
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Pro-independence groups yesterday said that they opposed the upcoming nationwide “inspection tour” by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) and called for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to stop applying “double standards” to Taiwan’s engagement with China compared with other foreign countries.
“We have a three-point statement for recent political development. First, Taiwan’s future should be decided by its 23 million people and no one else. Second, Ma should stop his ‘double standards’ and, third, the itinerary of Zhang’s visit to Taiwan should follow conventional diplomatic practice,” Taiwan Society president Chang Yen-hsien (張炎憲) told a press conference.
TIME FOR CHANGE?Civic groups said the president has been using nominations for the Examination and Control yuans as a tool to hand out political rewards
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Opposition parties and pro-independence groups yesterday called for the elimination of the Control Yuan and the Examination Yuan, with groups advocating the drafting of a new constitution to better fit the nation’s needs.
As lawmakers are set to review the qualification standards of the nominees for the two yuans this week and next week in the extra legislative session, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) said the two institutions are better off being eliminated.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Pro-independence advocates yesterday expressed strong support for Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai’s (賴清德) remarks about Taiwanese independence during his recent visit to Shanghai as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rejected Beijing’s claim that Taiwan’s future should be decided by “all Chinese people, including Taiwanese.”
The DPP’s independence charter and Resolution on Taiwan’s Future were part of the trajectory of Taiwan’s history and removing the charter would not eliminate the aspiration of Taiwanese for independence, Lai told an audience in Shanghai on Friday last week.
Tue, Jun 10, 2014 - Page 8
As much as Taiwan craves international attention, sometimes it has found itself in international headlines through no action of its own. More often than not, this has happened because of its neighbor across the Taiwan Strait.
Last week, actress Angelina Jolie drove the Middle Kingdom into a frenzy by telling the Associated Press that she admired director Ang Lee (李安), adding: “I’m not sure if you consider Ang Lee Chinese, he’s Taiwanese, but he does many Chinese-language films with many Chinese artists and actors.”
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) yesterday described his two-day trip to Shanghai as successful “city diplomacy,” and downplayed his comments about Taiwan independence and a potential presidential bid in 2016.
“Everything I said [in China] was no different than what I have said in Taiwan before. They understood that and they knew the point I was trying to make was seeking common ground and shelving differences,” Lai told a press conference at the Greater Tainan Government.
‘TAIWANESE VOICE’:Democratic Progressive Party members erupted in a chorus of praise in the wake of Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai’s comments in China
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) must seek common ground with Beijing while shelving its differences to achieve closer bilateral engagement, Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday.
“Taiwanese have become more suspicious of improving ties amid increasing bilateral exchanges because Beijing has been unable to hear ‘the voice of the other side.’ And that is why the DPP has decided that it must pursue engagement,” Lai said in Greater Tainan.
Tue, Apr 15, 2014 - Page 8
As the Sunflower movement protest drew to at least a temporary end, its subsequent development will be closely watched not only by officials of the embattled President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration, but also those in Beijing’s Zhongnanhai.
It was not that Beijing was surprised at seeing such social unrest. Tens of thousands of protests take place in China annually, with civilian deaths resulting from brutal crackdowns reported regularly, despite the government’s efforts to hide such information.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
In an opinion poll published yesterday, young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 29 showed the most serious concerns about unification with China and the highest support rate for Taiwanese independence — if maintaining the “status quo” became unsustainable.
The survey, conducted by the pro-independence Taiwan Brain Trust on Saturday and Sunday, found that “young people’s concerns about the inevitable eventual unification are clear,” the think tank’s president, Wu Rong-i (吳榮義), told a news conference in Taipei.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Investigations into the 228 Massacre and White Terror cases should be relaunched because recent controversial comments about the massacre showed that some people are still trying to find excuses for the merciless killings and infringement of human rights, advocates said yesterday.
Independence groups yesterday lambasted Shih Hsin University professor Wang Hsiao-po (王曉波), who said that the killing of 20,000 people by Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) Nationalist Army in the 228 Massacre was “a small case” compared with the 400,000 killed during Chiang’s campaigns against the Chinese Communist Party in China.
NOT AN OPTION:The Chinese president in meeting with former vice president Lien Chan again proposed ‘one country, two systems,’ but Taiwanese do not accept it, the DPP said
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) comments that suggested using the longstanding Beijing cross-strait initiative of “one country, two systems (一國兩制)” in dealing with Taiwan violated mainstream public opinion in the nation and will not be accepted as an option in cross-strait relations, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.
In Xi’s meeting with former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) in Beijing on Tuesday, Xi was quoted by state-owned Xinhua news agency as saying that China “respects the social system and lifestyle that Taiwanese compatriots have chosen” and it “completely understands how Taiwan compatriots feel.”
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
A memorial concert was held yesterday in Taipei to pay tribute to late independence movement pioneer and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) in honor of his dedication to the pursuit of freedom, democracy and independence in Taiwan.
Chai died of multiple organ failure on Jan. 11 at the age of 78. He had been hospitalized after a brain stem hemorrhage left him in a coma on Dec. 18 last year.
‘BETRAYAL’:A platform for cross-strait negotiation has now been established, meaning Ma has reneged on his promise to allow Taiwanese to decide their own future, critics say
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The first cross-strait government-to-government meeting has again reflected President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) pro-unification stance and could jeopardize Taiwan’s future dealings with China because it had trapped Taipei in Beijing’s political agenda, pro-localization advocates said yesterday.
Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi’s (王郁琦) failure to bring up the sovereignty issue and challenge Beijing’s anti-Taiwan independence claim in his meeting with Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) in Nanjing last week showed that Ma has always been a unification advocate who does not see the interests of the Taiwanese as his priority, Taiwan Society president Chang Yen-hsien (張炎憲) told a news conference in Taipei.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Sat, Feb 15, 2014 - Page 1
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration committed several fatal mistakes during Wang’s landmark visit to China, in particular the failure to reject the “one China” framework and China’s unilateral rhetoric of a consensus having been reached, the opposition parties said yesterday.
Wang returned to Taipei yesterday after a four-day trip to the Chinese cities of Nanjing and Shanghai, during which Taiwanese and Chinese government officials held historic, but “unofficial” direct talks for the first time in 65 years.
Tue, Feb 11, 2014 - Page 8
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 2008 presidential campaign was widely interpreted as evidence of Taiwanese disgust at the alleged corruption of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration and as a wish for better cross-strait ties with Beijing.
Ma’s 2012 re-election appeared to affirm that interpretation, at least to the international community and Taiwan’s major democratic allies, but only until the pro-unification Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) leaves office.
METAPHORS GALORE:In affirming his party’s position on the nation’s sovereignty, Su said it was like a seagull on a beach and like a man who knows that he is a man
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said he disagreed that the party’s recently concluded review of its China policy was unimpressive and conservative and called on Beijing to win over Taiwanese with encouragement and “observation from a distance.”
Addressing the DPP’s China policy review for the first time since it was announced on Thursday, Su yesterday reaffirmed that the party considers Taiwan to be a sovereign and independent country during an interview with Radio Taiwan International, a state-funded station, which has a mainly Chinese audience.
TIME FOR CHANGE?A DPP official said it was surprising that keeping the ‘status quo’ had low support from respondents in a party survey, as this contradicts previous polls
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The majority of Taiwanese favor independence over unification and identify strongly with the name “Republic of China (ROC),” as well as with the national flag, but are less receptive to the national anthem, a recent public opinion poll conducted by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) showed.
Online news site Newtalk obtained and published the results of the survey — which were not released to the public — on Sunday.