The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday mapped out a three-step plan toward constitutional reform, claiming it was more radical than proposals set down by the Democratic Progress Party (DPP).
The measure, announced by KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
"We will propose our new constitution draft next February and invite President Chen to debate the issue," said Lien during a KMT presidential campaign rally last night. "The second stage [after the election] will be to amend the current Constitution to add a referendum article."
"The final step is to put our new Constitution draft to a referendum at the same time as the legislative elections next December," Lien said.
On Sept. 28, Chen told the DPP's national assembly his intention to put a new constitution to a referendum. At the time, Lien responded by saying, "It is nonsense."
In October, however, Lien said he would organize a constitutional-reform committee if he won the presidential election.
Intending to reverse the public's image that the pan-blue alliance is against a referendum, Lien said last night that any referendum should be a constitutional-level mechanism and not based on a law ratified by the Legislative Yuan, as proposed by the DPP.
"Except on whether to change the official name of the country, the pan greens and the pan blues do not differ in how to draw up a new constitution," Lien said.
All four major political parties campaigned this weekend in and around Tainan, the hometown of both Chen and Lien.
More than 10,000 supporters were been mobilized to attended Lien's rally and many pan-blue heavyweights, including People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
Meanwhile, former president Lee Teng-hui (
"The power has been returned to the hands of people and everyone expects to have the referendum mechanism However, only now do they [the pan-blue alliance] finally begin to talk about implementing the direct right of the people," Lee said at a founding ceremony of the party's district headquarters in Tainan County.
"I hope that the Taiwanese people will not be cheated again because Taiwan cannot return to the old ways," he said.
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028. The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this year — two in Hsinchu and three in Kaohsiung — TSMC senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer Cliff Hou (侯永清) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Silicon Valley, California, last week. Output in the first year of 2-nanometer production, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, is expected to
RSS