President Chen Shui-bian (
"It is detrimental to the nation's development when there are so many bills blocked in the legislature and the government is in an idle spin," Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Liu Shih-fang (
Liu made the comment after Vice President Annette Lu (
Lu said she wrote a letter to Chen on Friday suggesting he invite party leaders to negotiate solutions to the current political impasse so that things could return to normal as soon as possible.
Liu said Chen shared the same thinking as Lu but did not commit himself to convening talks.
When asked whether Chen was planning to meet with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"Now that the second recall motion failed to pass the legislature, it is time to think about how to ensure social stability and further national and economic development," Liu said.
stocks up
Liu said that the surge in the stock market that followed the failure of the presidential recall motion on Friday signified that the public yearns for stability.
Lu yesterday also called on both the governing and opposition parties to yield and engage in rational debate to speed up the passage of "sunshine" bills and bills concerning ordinary people.
Lu made the appeal yesterday morning when addressing a conference called to discuss the establishment of a human rights committee. The conference was hosted by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy and the Taiwanese Society of International Law.
Lu, who formerly chaired the now disbanded Human Rights Advisory Committee under the Presidential Office, urged the legislature to pass the bills regulating the organization of the rights committee and the formal powers of committee members.
The two bills have been stalled on the legislative floor since 2002.
Lu added that legislation enacted during the martial law era should also be amended.
She also hoped to see the government promote human rights throughout civil society.
Commenting on the anti-Chen demonstrations, Lu said that she looked at the campaign with ambivalence because the protesters were exercising their freedom of speech but did not seem to appreciate this right.
Lu was sentenced to a 12-year prison term by a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration on charges of sedition for a 20-minute speech on human rights she made in December 1979 in Kaohsiung, in what later became known as the "Kaohsiung Incident."
She served nearly five-and-a-half years in jail.
torment
Lu said Chen had suffered all kinds of torment over the past two months but did not order any government agencies to persecute demonstrators because he himself had been a victim of persecution under KMT rule.
The government was duty bound to ensure fundamental human rights, Lu said, and the public should wait for the completion of the judicial inquiry into corruption allegations involving Chen's family and close aides.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source