A group of pan-green academics who created a stir earlier this month by demanding President Chen Shui-bian's (
The academics said that they regretted that Chen had not resigned in the wake of their first public statement on July 15, and that Chen had since then failed to offer any solution to the fundamental problem with his continued leadership, which was the collapse of public trust.
In their statement, the pan-green academics also criticized the leaders of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for lacking the stamina and imagination to work out a new vision for the nation's future.
"Only by developing an energetic and independent civil society can we improve the country's democracy," the group's statement said. "Only picky people can promote a better-quality political party."
The press conference was held at the Machangting (馬場町), a former execution ground for political prisoners adjacent to Youth Park, to highlight the fact that the DPP has not sufficiently dealt with the issue of transitional justice, according to the chief convener of the group Fan Yun (范雲), associate professor at National Taiwan University.
Political scientist Wu Rwei-ren (
Attorney Lo Bing-cheng (羅秉成), who served as Chen's defense attorney in the lawsuit over the vote recount after the 2004 presidential election, said yesterday that Chen had destroyed the public's trust in the rule of law because of his convoluted and ambiguous excuses for the SOGO voucher scandal and his son-in-law's alleged involvement in corruption.
"Now that President Chen has stubbornly defied the recall drive, why doesn't he just leave office and fight to prove his and his family's innocence and protect his family's reputation? `So, Go,' please!" Lo said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique