The Presidential Office said yesterday it is regrettable that the pan-blue alliance leaders have refused to meet with President Chen Shui-bian (
Presidential Office spokesman James Huang (
Huang said the two pan-blue leaders, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), took the initiative to meet with Chen to discuss disputes over the March 20 presidential election outcome.
After Chen agreed to meet with them unconditionally, Huang said, the pan-blue alliance brought up a new proposal that legislation be enacted to allow for the formation of an investigative committee under the Legislative Yuan to probe the election-eve assassination attempt on the president, as well as the incident's impact on the presidential election outcome.
In response to the pan-blue alliance's new request, Huang said, Chen directed Presidential Office Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (
"The Ministry of Justice and the legislative caucus of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) both oppose the proposal on the grounds that forming such a special committee violates the ROC Constitution and existing laws," Huang said
He added that the Cabinet is still studying how to accommodate the pan-blue alliance's request within the legal framework.
Huang said he feels regret that the pan-blue alliance has rejected a Chen-Lien-Soong meeting simply because of the two sides' different views on the necessity of setting up a special investigative committee.
But KMT Secretary-General Lin said an independent inquiry into the election-eve shooting is equally important.
"We want truth, fairness, justice and rule of law," Lin said.
He claimed that the rejection of the pan-blue alliance's proposal for the formation of a special investigative committee to look into the shooting and the activation of a so-called national security mechanism in the wake of the incident indicates that Chen is insincere in offering to meet with Lien and Soong.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
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