Some 20 members of the Committee for Action for Labor Legislation (工人立法行動委員會) went to the Legislative Yuan yesterday to demand that two DPP legislators who had accused organizers of a workers' demonstration of "working for China" to prove their accusations or resign.
"The two legislators abused their rights of free speech. They just want to distract attention from the government's labor policies," said Ho Yian-tang (
DPP legislators Lee Ming-hsien (
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
They alleged that one of the committee's founders, Cheng Tsun-chi (
They also said that the secretary-general of the Chinese Federation of Labor, Wang Juan-ping (王娟萍), is close to the Chinese government, citing her attendance at Chinese national day celebrations in Beijing on Oct 1.
The protesters did not succeed in confronting the two legislators. But DPP legislative whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) promised that he would urge the two to provide explanations for their comments within three days.
Later yesterday, the two legislators, speaking to reporters at the Legislative Yuan, reiterated their worries that Taiwanese workers "may be being manipulated by anti-Taiwan forces."
"We received the information from our friends doing business in China, but we can't release their names," Lee Ming-hsien told reporters.
Ho said that they would continue to protest until the two legislators offer a reasonable explanation.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS