The DPP government plans to strengthen its efforts to carry President Chen Shui-bian's
During last week's policy making meeting for the president's nine-member task force, an agreement was made to draw on more of the government's resources to crack down on crime at the grassroots level.
"People have a deep-seated hatred, not only of gangsters who are involved in politics, who were members of crime organizations and then become congressmen, but also from their personal encounters with theft and robbery," said DPP legislative caucus leader Perng Shaw-jiin (
Perng said that the government should place more importance on what the general public feels than worry about what politicians are saying.
Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財), the head of the DPP's legislative caucus, agreed.
"Residents can't stand it when crime seems to surround them," Hsu said.
During the meeting the president asked members to evaluate the recent move by opposition members to push for his recall.
In their comments, task force members focused on the importance of some independent lawmakers halting their support of the KMT's push to oust Chen. In order to pass a recall vote in the Legislative Yuan, some 147 votes are needed.
Of those votes, a crucial number, seven, need to come from independent lawmakers.
One source in the meeting said that legal cases have pressured some lawmakers, such as Tsai Hao (蔡豪), Luo Fu-chu (羅福助) and Wu Tse-yuan (伍澤元) into taking a neutral stance, helping stave off the push for a recall of the president.
"Tsai is scared because of an scandal that he is suspected of involvement in and Wu faces similar problems," the source said. "For now they should keep a low profile and not support the opposition party alliance."
Tsai is suspected of involvement in a land scandal and Wu was sentenced to 15 years last week, after being found guilty of accepting bribes in the handling of a flood prevention project between 1988 and 1992. A medical parole has allowed Wu to stay out of jail and continue to serve in the legislature.
Perng also suggested that the government be as even-handed as possible in its crack down on black gold since the DPP had to use its achievements to help boost its campaign in next year's legislative elections.
Perng said that the approach could also be used to counter opposition parties' possible attack of the government's economic policies.
The nine-member task force includes the president, Vice President Annette Lu
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary