President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has expressed his gratitude for former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh's (李遠哲) advice after the Nobel laureate wrote an open letter to Chen asking him to consider resigning, the Presidential Office said yesterday.
In a press release, the Department of Public Affairs said Chen had said that the question of whether he stays in office or steps down is of little significance to him personally, but that he would still listen to different voices on the matter.
Lee issued the letter on Thursday from Paris, where he is attending a conference.
In his letter, Lee called on Chen to seriously consider resigning for the sake of the nation's stability following the indictment of first lady Wu Shu-jen (
Describing the indictment as "a vital challenge for the long-term reform and establishment of Tai-wan's democratic core values," Lee, who previously served as head of a group of national policy advisers to the president, said that Chen and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) "must choose to prioritize between their party and the entire country."
Lee said Taiwan now faces one of the most serious challenges in its democratic history, resulting from Wu's indictment and Chen's alleged misuse of a public funds.
"The indictment has led the government, the ruling party and the people to a turning point. It is my opinion that if President Chen wants to act on the will of the people, which is to safeguard Taiwan's democracy, he must carefully consider whether he should tender his resignation," Lee wrote.
"The DPP must choose to prioritize between their party and the entire country. The president and the party must evaluate whether they should persist to strive to achieve the value of democracy in which the people of Taiwan would always pursue," Lee added.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday that he believes Chen would react wisely and prudently to Lee's advice, noting that "friends should always place importance on advice from friends."
Su said he had gone to the Presidential Office to meet with Chen to discuss Lee's letter.
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said that Chen had learned of Lee's letter on Thursday and that she believed he would heed it.
"As a democratic country, we respect everybody's opinions," she said yesterday.
Also see stories:
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
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
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
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