President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday said Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) is the founding father of the nation and the flag of the Republic of China is "the flag of our country."
Chen made the remarks in the wake of an uproar caused by Examination Yuan president Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文) and Examination Yuan member Lin Yu-ti (林玉体), who earlier this week said that while Sun was worthy of respect, they did not support his designation as the nation's father.
"Sun Yat-sen is the founding father of our country and the flag of the ROC is the flag of our country. There is nothing to argue about, to smear or to distort," said Chen while visiting a temple in Neihu, Taipei City accompanied by number of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative candidates.
Later in the day, Chen's campaign trail took him Yunlin, Changhua and Taichung counties where Chen pledged to pass the National Pension Law (國民年金法) should the pan-greens win a majority in the legislature. The passage of the law will allow senior citizens aged 65 or older to receive a monthly pension of NT$7,500, Chen said.
The legislation governing the Resolution Trust Cooperation (金融重建基金, RTC) would be the new legislature's priority to help advance the nation's economic development, added Chen.
Stating that many key bills have been stalled in the opposition pan-blue controlled legislature, Chen appealed to voters for support so that the DPP, together with its political ally the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), could "achieve its goal of winning a stable pan-green majority in the new legislature and secure greater progress in reform."
Chen, who also doubles as the DPP's chairman, told the crowd that he would be a lame duck if the pan-greens do not control the new legislature.
"On March 20, you gave me a chance to have a second term in office, I hope that on Dec., 11, you will give me a clear majority too in the new legislature to help [me] fulfill promises made during my re-election campaign," Chen told the crowd while in stumping for DPP hopefuls in Yunlin County.
At the venue, Chen took the opportunity to rebut recent remarks made by opposition People First Party (PFP) chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) who prophesied that there would be a catastrophic cross-strait war next year should the pan-green camp be granted a majority in the legislative elections.
"If this person can really predict the future, then why was he wrong in prophesying his own fortune?" said Chen, referring to Soong's unsuccessful bids in the 2000 presidential election and this year on a joint ticket with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰).
"If he can't be right about himself, how correct can he be about Taiwan?" Chen said.
Citing incidents in 1996 where China lobbed nuclear-capable missiles into the Taiwan Strait as well as China's threatening rhetoric in the run up to the 2000 presidential election -- when the KMT held both the majority in the legislature and controlled the government -- Chen said that one ought not to relate cross-strait war to the pan-green camp and to intimidate Taiwanese people with war.
According to DPP headquarters, Chen is slated to carry out a swing of at least 42 rallies nationwide in all 27 constituencies in the run-up to the Dec. 11 legislative election. Chen will today travel to Keelung City and Taipei County to stump for the DPP's legislative candidates in these regions.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS