President Chen Shui-bian (
The president said in his televised broadcast that to enact laws to establish gender equality, create a social welfare system and lighten the burden on women has always been on his mind.
Chen also said that to make women feel "light and warm in their everyday life" is the government's responsibility.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The president lauded Tai-wanese women for their unselfish contributions. He said that career women have to take care of their work and families at the same time. With such responsibilities, they are strained physically and emotionally, and men are largely unaware of the pressures that they face.
Regarding housewives, he said they are often marginalized despite the fact that they face pressures and burdens at home.
The president added that some have said that his wife, Wu Shu-chen (
But Chen said Wu told him that "as a housewife, my biggest contribution is raising our children and serving as the backbone of my husband."
The first family has two children; the daughter is a dentist, the son, who has followed in his father's footsteps by studying law, is doing his compulsory military service after graduating from National Taiwan University.
The president said that he agreed with his wife and wants to pay the highest tribute to the women who have contributed to Taiwan.
Premier Yu Shyi-kun also promised to improve the protection of women's careers in a ceremony yesterday to honor central government agencies which give women key roles in policy-making.
long way to go
The premier said respect for women is an indicator of a country's level of advancement and that, in this regard, Taiwan still has a long way to go.
During yesterday's ceremony, the Ministry of Interior was honored for giving women the biggest share, 56 percent, of its high-level positions. Twenty-three of the ministry's 41 senior officials are women.
In related news, more than 60 percent of Taiwanese women responding to a survey said they fear for their personal safety, while 42.7 percent said they were at risk of domestic violence.
The poll, conducted by the PFP, received valid responses from 710 women over 20 years old and had a margin of error of 3.7 percent.
PFP Legislator Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) said yesterday that the results show that 63.9 percent of women are not confident about their own safety and that the government should do more to ensure their safety so they can be free from fear of harm as guaranteed by the Constitution.
She said that women care most about education of their children, social order, family finances and the economy, domestic violence and employment, in that order. Chin urged the government to make progress in those areas.
PFP Legislator Chao Liang-yen (
domestic violence
PFP Legislator Lee Yung-ping (
She said that the government had enacted the concept of gender equality into law, but domestic violence has risen rapidly, showing the government is not doing enough in its promise to improve the economy, which has in turn pushed up the jobless rate.
She urged the government to address the problem, saying that if the economy continues to worsen, more women may face the threat of domestic violence.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching