Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Taiwan’s sovereignty slipping away

James Wang 王景弘

I have a question. If “one China” refers to the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan, as President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) says it does, why did the Philippines extradite ROC citizens, together with other “Chinese,” to the People’s Republic of China (PRC)? How fatuous is this government to have reached a stage that it no longer dares even insist that Taiwanese and Chinese have different nationalities?

Ma is happy to bang on about how harmless the idea of “one China” is, but every day the folly of this position becomes more apparent. Beijing has its talons locked around Ma’s government, making it accept a consensus on Beijing’s “one China.” Beijing is now trying to transform principle into reality.

Ma plots course to the ‘other side’

Taipei Times Editorial

In yet another display of incompetence that is doomed to incur a further twisted sense of national identity and contradiction, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) this week told government officials to stop calling the other side of the Taiwan Strait “China,” and instead adopt the term “the mainland,” “mainland China” or simply “the other side.” He urged the public to do the same.

Ma was quoted by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) as saying at a gathering of top government and legislative officials on Monday that the directive was in line with the principle of the (so-called) “1992 consensus,” which the KMT believes stipulates that both sides of the Strait agreed to have their own interpretation of “one China.” Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) later said that Ma’s directive was also in accordance with the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution.

Deportations based on ’one China’ policy: Manila

Taipei Times

The Philippines’ decision to send 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China for trial was made in observance of Manila’s “one China” policy, Philippine Presidential Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr said yesterday.

Ochoa’s remarks in an interview on DZMM Radio in the Philippines were the first official comment from the Presidential Office in Manila since a dispute broke out on Feb. 2 between Taiwan and the Philippines over Manila’s deportation of 14 Taiwanese to China that same day.

An ominous fate looms for the ROC

Taipei Times Editorial

During the Lunar New Year, many temples try to predict the nation’s fortune for the coming year, but there is never one consistent answer. However, this year, two international incidents involving Taiwan have taken place that implying a gloomy the fate for the nation.

The first incident was the deportation of 14 Taiwanese suspected of fraud from the Philippines to China. Although Taiwan’s representative office in the Philippines repeatedly demanded the 14 be sent to Taiwan, and although it secured writs of habeas corpus from the Court of Appeals of the Philippines to prevent the deportation to China, Manila ignored Taipei’s demands. After the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strong protest, top Philippine officials issued a statement expressing their deep regret — but not an apology — on Monday.

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