Legislator Trong Chai (蔡同榮) of the DPP was elected president of the ROC-US Parliamentary Amity Association Wednesday, a group comprising 120 lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties.
The association elected Chai to succeed Shih Ming-teh (施明德), who lost his re-election bid in the Dec. 1, 2001 legislative elections.
At the meeting in which the elections were held, association members also adopted a resolution allowing the three main opposition parties -- the KMT, the People First Party (PFP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) -- to recommend one of its legislators as new vice president of the association.
The TSU recommended Legislator at Large Wu Tung-sheng (
In addition, Hsiao Bi-khim (
Following his election, Chai said that he will do all that he can to increase official exchanges between Taiwan and the US.
Chai said that he is scheduled to lead a delegation on April 10 to attend an inauguration ceremony of the US-ROC Parliamentary Amity Association set up by the US House of Representatives.
Chai, a promoter of the establishment of the Formosan Association of Public Affairs in the US, voiced the hope that the formation of the two associations will help boost substantive relations between Taipei and Washington.
‘OBNOXIOUS MAN’: The KMT’s Chen Ching-hui moved into Chung Chia-pin’s path atop the podium and reached for him before he grabbed at her legs with both hands Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) yesterday said he slipped and lost his balance, and did not know who was around him, after jumping onto the speaker’s podium at the legislature in Taipei. He apologized after a collision with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽), who moved to intercept him as he mounted the podium. There was pushing and shoving when the session started in the morning as KMT lawmakers attempted to block access to the podium to shield Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) so he could preside over the session. Video footage showed Chung step on a chair and
While it is common to see bumper stickers informing other drivers about important information, such as “baby on board” or “rookie driver,” some motorist in Taiwan are using creative statements to warn other drivers to keep a safe distance to avoid a collision. A photograph recently circulating on the Internet showed a van in Changhua City with a bumper sticker saying that the driver received their license after taking the test three times, so it is dangerous to drive close to the vehicle. The person who took the photograph said all vehicles behind the van appeared to “subconsciously” maintaining a safe distance. Some
Taipei police on Saturday arrested 24 female Thai tourists on suspicion of working as hostesses and engaging in illegal activities at an underground bar in Zhongshan District (中山), the distict’s police precinct said in a statement yesterday. The police also arrested five other people involved in the operation, including the 29-year-old bar owner surnamed Chiang (蔣), and 17 customers, the statement said. The 24 Thai women were fined an undisclosed amount in accordance with the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) by the police and transferred to a National Immigration Agency (NIA) special brigade in Taipei for repatriation to Thailand. The cases of
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