Premier Frank Hsieh (
After the Legislature made the decision to cut two-thirds from the Cabinet's annual budget proposal on Thursday, Cabinet Secretary-General and Spokesman Cho Jung-tai (
Hsieh and Cho scheduled a press conference for late Friday night when they had finished discussing the issue with other Cabinet members.
The press conference, however, was later canceled.
Sources said that Hsieh decided to hold back on the idea because he realized that he did not have the full support of the Presidential Office on the issue.
Although Hsieh visited Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) on Friday night, he did not express his gratitude toward Wang and his fellow lawmakers, nor did he mention anything about the request to reconsider the budget.
Cho said that he could not make the contents of the conversation between the premier and the president public. But he told reporters that the president was not too keen on the idea of asking the Legislature to reconsider the budget because it would require the agreement of half of the legislative floor.
"As a result, we are not too confident about it, either," he said.
The secretary-general and spokesman said that Hsieh was busy meeting with Cabinet members and discussing whether they should file the request throughout the day yesterday and a final decision would be made by tomorrow.
According to analysis in a report by the local Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday, Cho said the president might take advantage of the statement the premier made on Friday, when he said "if the Cabinet's request to reconsider the budget is declined by the Legislature, I will take the political responsibility," to relieve Hsieh of his position. Cho said the final decision on whether to file the request has nothing to do with protecting the premier's position.
"To file the request is just the way we handle things. It is not the end goal we are looking for," Cho said. "As government officials, we need money in order to work for the people, so we must do this anyway."
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from