Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) officials voiced their opposition yesterday to the possible selection of DPP lawmaker Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) as deputy speaker of the legislature.
Party lawmakers and officials said that Shen has been hostile toward the TSU and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), the party's spiritual leader, since the TSU was founded in August last year.
Critic of Lee
"Shen has been very critical of Lee Teng-hui, calling him formidable and cruel." He always looks down on the TSU," said Huang Chin-lang (
At a meeting yesterday, TSU legislator-elect Chen Chien-ming (
"Initially he was opposed to the founding of the TSU. After the party was established he said the TSU would steal votes from the DPP and suggested that the DPP should not cooperate with the TSU. He once even said the TSU will win no more than three seats in the [legislative] elections," Chen said.
The director of the party's department of culture and information, Hsiao Kwan-yu (
Huang called on his party members not to support Shen, saying, "the TSU would support anyone nominated by the DPP other than Shen."
The director of the pro-Taiwan party accused Shen of not being strong enough in his support of Taiwan. Huang said he hoped the DPP would pick someone who agrees with the TSU's localization principle.
In contrast to the stern reaction from Huang and Chen, the party's deputy secretary-general, Lin Jih-chia (林志嘉), appeared relatively unperturbed, declining to comment directly on the DPP lawmaker under attack.
TSU complaints
"The party has not yet decided who to support and who not to support, but it is true that some party members have had complaints about Shen," Lin said.
"The party will make a final decision after consulting former president Lee; the 13 TSU lawmakers will support the same ticket."
Lin added that the party will only support the incumbent legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), the KMT vice chairman, in his bid for re-election under the condition that his deputy is not a PFP member.
Lin said that if the KMT plans to cooperate with the PFP, the TSU will not rule out the possibility of nominating its own candidate to compete against theirs.
The election for the leaders of the Legislative Yuan will be held on Feb. 1. Shen appears to be the most likely candidate to be chosen as deputy speaker.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
RSS