Coming under heavy fire from opposition parties for saying Thursday that his administration has "removed the rocks from our track," President Chen Shui-bian (
"It was a reference to the DPP, which, although it is the ruling party, has been so vocal and fulsome in its criticism of the new government during the past four months, that it has obstructed the new government's development," said Chen as he inspected an industrial park in Changhua County.
Chen said that the public should not associate his remark with the Cabinet reshuffle that followed the resignation of former premier Tang Fei (唐飛). He said that the DPP shouldered the lion's share of responsibility for the smooth running of the government.
On Thursday Chen said, "We recognize that the government had problems during the past four and a half months, just like a train which is jolted because the track is bumpy, but we have removed the rocks from our track ... The train has been repaired and can now get back on the track."
Opposition parties immediately complained that Chen's remarks were an insult to Tang Fei, who resigned as premier on Tuesday night, saying that the president's "improper comments" had revealed his "blunt character."
A Presidential Office official told the media on Thursday night that the word "rocks" was a symbol for issues, including the "old bureaucracy."
People First Party (PFP) lawmakers, however, still said yesterday that Chen was dishonorable, saying "Tang was not the rock, although some Cabinet members might be considered small rocks."
"And if Chen did not realize what people really expect, then he is the big rock obstructing our country's economic development," said PFP legislative caucus leader Chen Chao-jung (陳朝容).
KMT lawmaker Chen Horng-chi (陳鴻基) said that he was confused by the president's remarks. "It made me feel that Chen is an ungrateful politician who abandoned Tang and even kicked him as he left."
Meanwhile, DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (
Leaders of the DPP's New Tide faction (新潮流系) said the party would engage in self-reflection and, henceforth, support the government. Members of the New Tide faction have often been critical of the Chen administration.
"Some DPP factions have had different ideas from President Chen in the past months. But now the DPP should be completely as one with the government," said DPP lawmaker Lee Wen-chung (李文忠). "And if the president has pointed the finger at us, we accept this and will reflect on the situation."
Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez on Sunday won Costa Rica’s presidential election by a landslide, after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. With 94 percent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had captured 48.3 percent of the vote compared with Ramos’ 33.4 percent, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. As soon as the first results were announced, members of Fernandez’s Sovereign People’s Party
MORE RESPONSIBILITY: Draftees would be expected to fight alongside professional soldiers, likely requiring the transformation of some training brigades into combat units The armed forces are to start incorporating new conscripts into combined arms brigades this year to enhance combat readiness, the Executive Yuan’s latest policy report said. The new policy would affect Taiwanese men entering the military for their compulsory service, which was extended to one year under reforms by then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2022. The conscripts would be trained to operate machine guns, uncrewed aerial vehicles, anti-tank guided missile launchers and Stinger air defense systems, the report said, adding that the basic training would be lengthened to eight weeks. After basic training, conscripts would be sorted into infantry battalions that would take
GROWING AMBITIONS: The scale and tempo of the operations show that the Strait has become the core theater for China to expand its security interests, the report said Chinese military aircraft incursions around Taiwan have surged nearly 15-fold over the past five years, according to a report released yesterday by the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Department of China Affairs. Sorties in the Taiwan Strait were previously irregular, totaling 380 in 2020, but have since evolved into routine operations, the report showed. “This demonstrates that the Taiwan Strait has become both the starting point and testing ground for Beijing’s expansionist ambitions,” it said. Driven by military expansionism, China is systematically pursuing actions aimed at altering the regional “status quo,” the department said, adding that Taiwan represents the most critical link in China’s
EMERGING FIELDS: The Chinese president said that the two countries would explore cooperation in green technology, the digital economy and artificial intelligence Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday called for an “equal and orderly multipolar world” in the face of “unilateral bullying,” in an apparent jab at the US. Xi was speaking during talks in Beijing with Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi, the first South American leader to visit China since US special forces captured then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro last month — an operation that Beijing condemned as a violation of sovereignty. Orsi follows a slew of leaders to have visited China seeking to boost ties with the world’s second-largest economy to hedge against US President Donald Trump’s increasingly unpredictable administration. “The international situation is fraught
RSS