President Chen Shui-bian (
Presidential Office spokesperson Chen Wen-tsung (陳文宗) said Chen and Lu expected that the probe into the matter would be comprehensive. He said that the incident had had a negative impact on public safety and the nation's image.
Lu said some Taiwanese love to "do it easy" and "hate working hard," and that this was why Taiwan needed to look overseas for labor.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
But she also paid tribute to the small army of foreign laborers that man the nation's construction sites and other workplaces.
"We have to appreciate people who contribute to Taiwan no matter what their nationality. We have to see workers from other countries as our brothers and sisters rather than just as foreigners," she said.
Lu said some Taiwanese discriminated against foreign workers and that these wrong ideas had to be adjusted.
Presidential Office officials said the office would not interfere with the investigation into the riot.
Meanwhile, a delegation from Thailand's legislature arrived in Taipei yesterday to gather information on the riot as well as to offer moral support to Thai workers.
During their four-day visit, the delegation will meet officials from the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) to discuss labor issues.
In Hsinchu County, Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday said that former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Chen Che-nan (陳哲男), the father of acting Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), was not involved in possibly corrupt conduct in relation to the hiring of the workers.
"It is not difficult to find out whether or not I am telling the truth," Hsieh said during a press conference in Sanwan Township (
Hsieh's remarks were referring to an allegation that Chen Che-nan took advantage of his position as a senior Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) figure to meddle in the hiring of Thai workers for Kaohsiung City's MRT project.
"China Steel Corp (CSC) is the firm that won the bid for the construction of the whole Kaohsiung MRT. But this company has nothing to do with Chen Che-nan," Hsieh said. "If he was really meddling in the matter, the company wouldn't have won the bid, would it?"
"Also, don't forget that then-CSC president Wang Chung-yu (王鍾渝) is now a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker. If there was any reason for a scandal, how is it that the KMT was so quiet?" he asked.
"Officials from Kaohsiung City's Labor Bureau and the MRT Bureau visited them [the Thai workers] to learn if they needed anything. Things were in good shape then," Hsieh said. "However, it is my understanding that the employer did not expand the facilities that were needed, despite hiring another 900 Thai workers in May."
DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday gave his support for the Cabinet and the Presidential Office's position, saying that political and electoral considerations should be put aside and that prosecutions should quickly follow if an investigation found collusion between the Kaohsiung City Government and the labor broker for the Thai workers.
Su also rebutted speculation that the scandal was being fueled by DPP factionalism ahead of the Kaohsiung mayoral election.
"The DPP's tradition is that we always thoroughly and courageously scrutinize the mistakes we make and find out why they happened," Su said. "We know that people look to the DPP to remain a reformer [party] and we will correct all the mistakes in response to public expectations."
Both Council of Labor Affairs Chairwoman Chen Chu (陳菊) and Chen Chi-mai have expressed interest in running for Kaohsiung mayor next year.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
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