Top government officials blasted Democratic Progressive Party Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen May 26 for describing the Republic of China as a “government in exile” earlier this week.
Officials from various ministries criticized Tsai for her comments, which they claimed undermined the nation’s status and were inappropriate for the leader of an opposition party.
Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang said the government believes this is the first time Tsai has clearly expressed her true stance. She has disappointed the people by deciding to move closer to the extremists in the pan-green camp—supporters of Taiwan independence, Lo claimed.
He stressed that Tsai’s comments reflect an attitude of denial of the nation and the Constitution, as well as belittling her own party, which once served as the country’s ruling party.
“Does she really mean to say that the DPP administration’s eight years in power was illegal and illegitimate?” Lo asked.
Meanwhile, Premier Wu Den-yih, noting that Tsai has served as a government official in the past, questioned how she could not know the real meaning of the term government in exile.
“Does (Tsai) really think that she had received a salary from a government in exile?” Wu asked in wonder.
King Pu-tsung, secretary-general of the ruling Kuomintang, suggested that the best approach for Tsai at this point would be to admit to the blunder of speech and apologize to the people for her remarks.
“By doing so, this matter should be able to be put to rest rather quickly,” he said.
Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah also weighed in on the controversy during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee.
“The ROC government has always been a legitimate ruling government since it was founded in 1911,” Jiang said, adding that “government in exile” cannot be considered a formal legal term when used to describe it.
Mainland Affairs Council Minister Lai Shin-yuan said Tsai’s comments have not only harmed the ROC’s sovereignty, they have also “dwarfed” the nation’s standing.
Meanwhile, Hsiao Bi-khim, director of the DPP’s Department of International Affairs, said Tsai was only pointing out historical facts.
She noted that what Tsai meant was that the ROC regime came to Taiwan in 1949 as a government in exile, but that over the past 60 years, Taiwan has evolved through the process of democratization into a sovereign nation.
According to Hsiao, the KMT has taken Tsai’s comments out of context and completely distorted their meaning. (SB)