The Taiwan Independence Party filed a criminal lawsuit against the New Party on a charge of treason yesterday.
Party Chairman William Huang (黃玉炎) yesterday accused the New Party's delegation, led by senior party members including Hsu Li-nung (許歷農), Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明), Wang Chien-shien (王建烜) and its party convener Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大) of conducting party-to-party negotiations and reaching a seven-point consensus with high-ranking Chinese officials during a four-day visit in China from July 10 to July 13, without the government's authorization.
"They have committed offenses against the external security of the state and obviously intend to sell out our national interests," Huang was quoted as saying in a written press statement released yesterday.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
On July 12, The delegation, joined by Secretary-General Lee Bin-nan (
Opposing the New Party's close connections with Beijing, party spokesman Tsai Ting-lin (
"If the court decides to take the case and enter a verdict, the so-called `special state-to-state relationship' between China and Taiwan would, therefore, be legalized and consolidate Taiwan's national identity," Tsai said.
He added that, were the case accepted, Taiwanese courts would have to recognize the fact that China is a foreign country and that Taiwan is not a part of China. Otherwise, other political parties and individuals would act like the New Party and sell out Taiwan by conducting private talks with China, he 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