President Chen Shui-bian (
"By the time I complete my presidency in 2008, I hope to hand to the people of Taiwan and to our country a new version of our Constitution -- one that is timely, relevant and viable. This is my historic responsibility and my commitment to the people," Chen said.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"I am fully aware that consensus has yet to be reached on issues related to national sovereignty, territory and the subject of unification/independence; therefore, let me explicitly propose that these particular issues be excluded from the present constitutional re-engineering project," he said.
The inauguration ceremony began in rainy weather at 9am at the Presidential Office.
Supervised by Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng (
After signing the official documents appointing Premier Yu Shyi-kun, Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), Chen received foreign delegations and accepted their congratulations.
In his inaugural speech, "Paving the Way for a Sustainable Taiwan," Chen sought to reduce tensions with China and to reassure the US that his plans for a new constitution would not stir up trouble.
Chen said the first step is to have the legislature pass a constitutional amendment, something he said during the election campaign he wouldn't do.
"Accordingly, after the passage by the legislature, members of the first and also the last Ad Hoc National Assembly will be elected and charged with the task of adopting the constitutional reform proposal as passed by the legislature, abolishing the National Assembly, and incorporating into the Constitution the people's right to referendum on constitutional revision," Chen said.
As to the future of cross-strait relations, Chen expressed "understanding" toward Beijing's "one China" principle -- something the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has never done -- and said an environment of peaceful development and freedom of choice would allow the two sides to seek to establish relations in any form.
"We can understand why the government on the other side of the Strait, in light of historical complexities and ethnic sentiments, cannot relinquish the insistence on the `one China' principle," Chen said. "By the same token, the Beijing authorities must understand the deep conviction held by the people of Taiwan to strive for democracy, to love peace, to pursue their dreams free from threat, and, to embrace progress," he said.
Noting that Taiwan is a free and democratic society, Chen said neither an individual nor a political party alone can make the ultimate choice for the people.
"We should not exclude any possibilities, so long as there is the consent of the 23 million people of Taiwan," Chen said.
He urged both sides to establish a dynamic "peace and stability framework" for interactions.
To express his goodwill to maintain stability in cross-strait affairs, Chen, while not directly reiterating the "five noes" made in his 2000 inauguration speech, said he would follow the promises and principles set forth in 2000.
"Those commitments have been honored -- they have not changed over the past four years, nor will they change in the next four years," Chen said.
He also reaffirmed his resolution to establish a committee that would gather input from all parties and the public to draft guidelines for cross-strait peace and development.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RSS