By Chung Chih-kai and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
A map circulating among Chinese netizens and celebrities in a show of support for Beijing's "nine-dash line" territorial claim over the South China Sea has stirred heated debate between netizens on each side of the Taiwan Strait.
In response to the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, on Tuesday that China's "nine-dash line" territorial claim is unlawful, Chinese netizens and well-known Chinese actors and actresses, including Fan Bingbing （范冰冰） and Huang Shaoming （黃曉明）, posted a map of China that includes Taiwan on microblogging sites with the message: "China, cannot be one bit less （中國，一點都不能少）."
The inclusion of Taiwan on the map, which is marked in red as part of China's territories, enraged Taiwanese netizens, who reacted with statements such as: "Taiwan stopped being a part of China long ago" and "What do you think you're doing including my home on your country's map?"
Chinese netizens said in response: "Taiwanese artists need not come to China to develop their careers," "Taiwan separatists get lost" and "Is it wrong to be patriotic?"
Taiwanese pop diva Jolin Tsai （蔡依林） was bombarded with criticism from Chinese netizens for not sharing the map on her social media account, while China-based Taiwanese singer Jimmy Lin （林志穎） came under fire when he posted a picture of his eldest son instead of reposting the Chinese map in solidarity with the protesters.
Taiwanese actress Ruby Lin （林心如） and Taiwanese actor Wallace Huo （霍建華）, who both have a large fan base in China and are due to get married later this month, posted the map on their microblogs, drawing an angry response from Taiwanese users, while Chinese fans came to their defense, saying: "We are all one family, Taiwan is a province of China."
While some attempted to downplay the controversy by saying the posts represented only the stance of Lin and Huo's respective movie studios, Huo posted a message on Thursday saying the repost of the map also represented his stance, prompting an outcry from Taiwanese fans.
Taiwanese netizens said Huo's political stance "will cause much trouble for his brother," who is a police officer in Taiwan, while Chinese netizens welcomed Huo's message.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong actress and member of the pop group Twins Charlene Choi （蔡卓妍）, better known as A-sa （阿Sa）, responded to criticism that she was unpatriotic for failing to repost the map by saying: "Patriotism isn't just something spoken."
"Does being patriotic mean I have to say so every second? I donate money every year to build schools for orphaned children in China. Whenever there is a natural disaster I am there on the ground helping people out. Do I even need to respond to you people?" Choi wrote.
Actor Vincent Chiao, who was born in Taiwan, but developed his acting career in China, displays his allegiance to China in images posted to Chinese social network Web site Weibo on Tuesday. Photo: Screengrab from Vincent Chiao's Weibo microblog
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Recommended article from FiveFilters.org: Most Labour MPs in the UK Are Revolting.
'NOT A ROCK': The statement said Taiwan would not recognize the ruling on Itu Aba, reaffirmed Taiwan's sovereignty and vowed action to protect its sovereignty
By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter
The Legislative Yuan yesterday issued a joint statement on the South China Sea ruling, rejecting "any arbitrary decision made by international arbitration" concerning the Republic of China's （ROC） rights over "the South China Sea islands and their relevant waters."
Amid inter-party struggles in the legislature over the bill dealing with ill-gotten party assets, the four party caucuses reached consensus over the nation's stance toward the ruling on Tuesday by the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
A statement announced by Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan （蘇嘉全） at 5pm yesterday said that the arbitration ruling has "seriously damaged the rights of the nation to its territory and the regional peace of the South China Sea."
"The legislature, the ROC's highest representative institution and authorized by the nation's citizens, has made a resolution to make an international statement on the basis of facts and jurisprudence," it said.
"The ROC enjoys the rights conferred by international law over its South China Sea islands and its relevant waters as they are, in terms of history, geography and international law, part of the ROC's territory and waters. Any country's claims or occupation or any international arbitration's arbitrary decision will not be recognized by the ROC," the statement said.
"The ROC has been substantively occupying and effectively governing Taiping Island [太平島, Itu Aba Island] of the South China Sea islands for more than half a century without interruption. Former presidents Chen Shui-bian （陳水扁） and Ma Ying-jeou （馬英九） both visited the island, which has infrastructure for daily living and administration and military construction, in 2008 and this year respectively and confirmed the nation's occupation and sovereignty, which is not to be challenged by any country or arbitration," it said.
The third point of the statement said that the ROC government has undertaken and will continue to undertake "both outward-facing and inward-facing sovereignty protecting actions regarding the South China Sea islands including Taiping."
The "outward-facing" part will be continuing its campaign to show the international community and related organizations evidence affirming the nation's rights and claims over the islands and their relevant waters; the "inward-facing" action will be continuing the building on Itu Aba, including bolstering the forces and military equipment stationed there, promoting academic research and tourism, and reinforcing the basic infrastructures for transportation, communications and environmental protection.
"Taiping Island is a natural island, not a rock. The arbitration tribunal's judgement is obviously at odds with facts. And that the award refers to the nation as 'Taiwan Authority of China' has belittled the nation's status as a sovereign nation and is unacceptable to the ROC government and its people," the statement said.
The resolution to make the statement, the cross-caucus negotiation for which was initiated by the People First Party （PFP） caucus, was endorsed by all caucuses, the Democratic Progressive Party, the Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT）, the New Power Party and the PFP.
There was no mention of the "U-shaped line" or the "11-dash line" claims in the statement.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Recommended article from FiveFilters.org: Most Labour MPs in the UK Are Revolting.
'THROWING A FIT': The KMT called for three votes on each of 276 items to block the passage of the bill, while holding up signs and demanding Tsai Ing-wen's presence
By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter
The Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） caucus yesterday obstructed scheduled legislative proceedings to pass a bill on ill-gotten party assets by calling for votes on each first-reading bill on the floor agenda, of which there were more than 200.
The Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） caucus and the New Power Party （NPP） proposed to extend the meeting until midnight.
The legislative floor meeting commenced later than usual yesterday morning, as the DPP caucus had a prolonged caucus meeting, after which DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming （柯建銘） said the caucus planned to achieve two things — the passage of the bill on ill-gotten party assets and the announcement of a joint statement concerning the South China Sea ruling.
The latter was achieved, while the former had not been dealt with as of press time last night.
Soon after the general assembly meeting started, the KMT caucus demanded a roll call vote as the method of voting in yesterday's meeting, which DPP lawmakers and Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan （蘇嘉全） said would have to be decided by a vote.
DPP Legislator Wu Ping-jui （吳秉叡） shouted in the chamber: "The voting system we have now is already a name-registering vote. I see no reason why the KMT caucus has to raise the need to change it, other than to try to hamper legislative proceedings and protect their party assets."
The voting system in the general assembly chamber consists of two electronic boards at the front of the chamber that display the names of lawmakers and flashes green, red or yellow for "yea," "nay" and abstain respectively.
NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang （黃國昌） also criticized the KMT caucus, saying its measures were "ridiculous" and calling on the party to "stop throwing a fit and step back from the brink."
KMT lawmakers, all clad in blue in a show of solidarity, from that point on called for a roll call vote, a vote and a revote for each first-reading bill that was to be referred to committees for review by dissenting against which committees the proposals were to be referred to.
There were a total of 276 cases to be referred to committees on the floor agenda yesterday.
In the morning, only six of the 276 were processed. Under typical legislative procedures, the second and third readings of bills on the discussion agenda would be dealt with only after all the committee-referral cases were done.
In the front of the chamber, the KMT lawmakers held up placards and chanted slogans demanding that President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） report to the Legislative Yuan on the recent accidental launch of a missile and a ruling on the South China Sea by an international court.
One placard asked if Tsai was a US lackey, while another read: "An inch of [our] mountains and rivers [equals] an inch of [our] blood," a phrase first used by the Republic of China's armed forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
"Defend our sovereignty and protect our fishing rights," was another slogan the KMT lawmakers repeated.
In the middle of voting in the evening, NPP Legislator Freddy Lim （林昶佐） discovered that newly elected KMT caucus convener Sufin Siluko （廖國棟） was pressing the voting button for former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng （王金平）, who was absent, which was condemned.
KMT lawmakers later accused DPP lawmakers of voting for other legislators who had temporarily left their seats.
Yesterday was the last day of this year's first legislative session.
Two extraordinary sessions later this month and next month are expected to be called, the DPP caucus said earlier this week.
The legislature was dealing with the 58th item on the agenda as of 9pm yesterday.
Democratic Progressive Party, New Power Party and Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） legislators hold up signs expressing their viewpoints during a general assembly meeting at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party legislators distribute snacks at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday as Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） legislators tried to delay deliberations on the party's ill-gotten assets. Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
New Power Party Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang, standing, uses his mobile phone to record the voting at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Recommended article from FiveFilters.org: Most Labour MPs in the UK Are Revolting.
沒有留言:
張貼留言
注意：只有此網誌的成員可以留言。