President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday said that the marriage of Kaohsiung City Mayor Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) daughter will bring much-needed good luck to the nation following a devastating earthquake.
"When my daughter got married last year, there was a typhoon sweeping through Taiwan. However, things went well and the DPP won the year-end legislative election," Chen said. "Although we had a devastating earthquake today, I'm sure that things will also turn out fine."
Chen made the remarks at the wedding ceremony of Hsieh's daughter, Hsieh Wei-fen (
PHOTO: CHU YU-PIN, TAIPEI TIMES
The 28-year-old bride, nicknamed "Little Penguin," is Frank Hsieh's oldest child and only daughter. She works at a computer networking company.
The groom, Chen Chin-kuo (
Among the 600 guests were former premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Former president Lee Teng-hui (
Likening yesterday's earthquake to difficulties in a marriage, the president encouraged the newly-weds to learn to adapt to married life.
"Marriage is, after all, different from dating. You're bound to have disagreements and arguments, but don't ever forget your promises to each other during difficult times," he said.
Hsieh said that although he is sad that his daughter is leaving the house, he feels happy at the same time that she has found a fine husband.
"It's great that my son-in-law is a doctor. It'll save me a lot of time and money to see the doctor," he said.
He also promised that his daughter will make a good wife in the future because she is very good at doing household chores.
"I remember when I was pursuing my master's degree in Japan, my wife and I were so poor that we couldn't afford to buy an air conditioner," he said. "So I often put my daughter in the washing machine during the summer to cool her down. I guess that's one of the reasons why she's so good at doing laundry."
In addition to predicting Hsieh's success in his re-election bid for Kaohsiung City mayor, Chen suggested that Hsieh will move up the political ladder.
"I guarantee you that Mayor and Chairman Hsieh will win in the year-end mayoral election. And I can tell you that he'll have more success in the future," Chen said.
During the seven-minute speech, the president poked fun at Hsieh, who he called his "best partner" and "long-time comrade in arms."
"He's better than me in many ways. While he has a master's degree, I have a bachelor's. He's also a more fluent speaker than I am," Chen said. "But one thing I take pride in is that I'm about to be a grandfather, and that's the one thing he has no way of beating me to."
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if the next president of that country decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said today. “We would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said during a legislative hearing. At the same time, Taiwan is paying close attention to the Central American region as a whole, in the wake of a visit there earlier this year by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Lin said. Rubio visited Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Guatemala, during which he
RSS