Outgoing New Party lawmaker Elmer Feng (
Feng, who has openly advocated the "one country, two systems" model to end cross-strait tension, failed to retain his seat in the southern district of Taipei City last week.
"This is the last time I question the Cabinet," Feng said during a question-and-answer session, wiping tears from his eyes. "I don't mind losing the race. What wears me down is that an increasing number of government officials refuse to regard themselves as Chinese."
The legislator waved a large national flag inside the legislative chamber and played the national anthem to mark his upcoming departure.
"Though defeated, I will not quit defending the Republic of China and the national flag as long as I live," Feng affirmed.
He blasted his rival candidates from the pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union and Taiwan Independence Party for staging provocative protests in front of his campaign headquarters in the run-up to the polls.
"Such conduct caused grave harm to the dignity of the ROC and threatened to break apart the country," Feng complained to Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
He asked Chang to promise not to put the nation on a course that may endanger its preservation. The lawmaker then gave the flag to the premier as a parting gift.
With a doctoral degree from Boston University in the US, Fung, 53, said he will teach philosophy at National Central University.
His party, which won only one seat in the outpost island of Kinmen, will call another meeting to probe into its disastrous showing today.
Fung said he will not abandon his party though it is on the brink of collapse, as one member after another has voiced a desire to leave.
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday criticized the nuclear energy referendum scheduled for Saturday next week, saying that holding the plebiscite before the government can conduct safety evaluations is a denial of the public’s right to make informed decisions. Lai, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made the comments at the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting at its headquarters in Taipei. ‘NO’ “I will go to the ballot box on Saturday next week to cast a ‘no’ vote, as we all should do,” he said as he called on the public to reject the proposition to reactivate the decommissioned
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
EXCEPTIONS: Some people could be allowed to reclaim citizenship for humanitarian reasons or because of their contributions to the nation, the interior ministry said Taiwan would soon unveil new rules banning Taiwanese residents of China from reclaiming their citizenship if they participated in Beijing’s propaganda activities, the Ministry of the Interior said on Monday. The measures were drafted following President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 directive that the government counter China’s espionage and influence campaigns aimed at undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty, the ministry said in a preview of the rules. The changes would affect Taiwanese who lost their citizenship after becoming permanent residents of China or obtaining passports issued by China, it said. Under the measures, former Taiwanese nationals living in China who had made statements denying the