Premier Tang Fei (
Meanwhile, a handful of DPP lawmakers expressed support for Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen (
"Wu is speaking the truth. There is no need for him to apologize," his supporters said.
Tang's wife, Chang Ming-tsan (
Chang also spoke to Wu's criticism, saying the secretary-general was just trying to articulate his viewpoint.
"What he said was frank," Chang said. "However, I would urge him to put the national interest first and look into the problems. My husband knows what he is doing."
Though still under the weather, Tang attended a banquet hosted by President Chen Shui-bian (
Chung Chin (
"After President Chen returns from his trip, Premier Tang will discuss further with Chen relations between the Presidential Office and the Executive Yuan," Chung said.
"There is more space to improve," she said, denying that there was mutual distrust between the president and premier.
Wea Chi-lin (
"He was reviewing many official documents at home yesterday," Wea said, adding that Tang would strengthen communication between the Executive Yuan and the DPP.
DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh yesterday ordered all party members to keep quiet over the remarks Wu made about Tang.
Nevertheless, legislators Chen Zao-nan (
"Wu doesn't need to apologize, because there are problems with our constitutional system. Many DPP officials are dissatisfied with the performance of the Executive Yuan," Chen said, urging the president to address problems in the constitution.
Tsai said Wu was speaking for Tang's own good, though he added that Wu was probably being a little too hard on the premier.
"The DPP's legislative caucus hopes that Tang will take a tougher stance on coordinating the government budget and policy formulation," Tsai said.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
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Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
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