Morning round up

Ma made a statement to commemorate the Tiananmen massacre that reads like an entry to a CCP ass-kissing contest. More on that later. First, three stories that caught my attention this morning:

KMT, DPP at loggerheads over ‘state affairs forum’ (Taipei Times)

Lawmakers from the two major parties have locked horns over a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposal to abolish the legislature’s “state affairs forum” (國是論壇) — a suggestion that wasn’t well-received by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, who believe the forum provides the opposition valuable opportunity to make its voices heard.

The one-hour forum takes place before each legislative sitting, with lawmakers drawing lots to decide who can speak. Each is then accorded three minutes to speak about any topic.

Tsai rejects independence criticism (Taipei Times)

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday hit back at the Presidential Office for painting and criticizing her as an independence fundamentalist. Tsai said that the Presidential Office overly simplified her remarks in an interview, which appeared in three Chinese-language newspapers yesterday, and that she had just asked President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) a few questions.

“I just asked a few questions and I would like to see him answer them,” she said. “It is not a good idea to stick a label on other people.”

In the interviews, Tsai criticized Ma for failing to mention in his inaugural address that Taiwan’s 23 million people have the final say on the nation’s future.

In response, an official at the Presidential Office said there was no need to mention it because it is a fact that Taiwanese have a say on the country’s future because they can elect legislators and presidents.

She also criticized the Ma administration for retreating on the issue of sovereignty. She said she would like to know why the administration wanted to resume cross-strait negotiations based on the so-called “1992 consensus,” without clarifying what the consensus refers to.

Tsai said the administration has now chosen to keep mum on the KMT’s previous contention that the so-called consensus refers to “one China, with each side having its own interpretation.”

Tsai said that the Ma government’s plan to apply for WHO membership under the name “Chinese Taipei” without undertaking political negotiations was unacceptable and a step backward.

The Presidential Office retorted by saying that the officials documents of the WTO refer to the country as “Chinese Taipei” and the country did not gain accession to the international body until 2002 when Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was president.

Tsai said yesterday that the details of the WTO application were decided by the then-KMT administration and the DPP administration was not responsible for them.

Tsai warns against joining Control and Examination yuans (Taipei Times)

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday that the party would suspend any member who accepts President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) nomination to serve in the Control Yuan or the Examination Yuan.

The decision was made by the party’s Central Standing Committee, Tsai said, adding that it was not a new policy as it was a well-established practice within the party.

The Central Standing Committee decided on May 28 not to nominate any candidates for the Control Yuan and Examination Yuan and suspend members who independently accept Ma’s nomination for either of the two government branches. However, they could reclaim their membership once they left the position.