Lawmakers from the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) repeated their complaint yesterday that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration address was too conciliatory toward China, and that he was trying to fool the people into thinking China would reciprocate his goodwill.
The lawmakers said Chen's soft approach amounted to a betrayal of those who supported him.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"What kind of goodwill did he receive from China? He fooled Taiwan's voters," TSU Legislator Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) said at a news conference, speaking on behalf of the pro-unification party.
Lo derided Chen's China stance with an earthy slang phrase de-scribing him as a suitor pursuing someone who wasn't interested.
During his campaign, Chen adopted a strong anti-China stance that had Chinese leaders fuming. The message played well with his core supporters, who oppose unification.
But since his re-election, Chen has sought to ease tensions with China and calm Washington's fear that he might provoke a war.
The TSU was especially upset with a part of Chen's speech saying the public hadn't reached a consensus on whether the nation should seek permanent independence from China or should move toward eventual unification.
Lo insisted that the majority of Taiwanese agree the island is a sovereign nation.
Democratic Progressive Party caucus whip Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said the TSU should show more understanding for Chen. Tsai said Chen had done his best to consider several competing interests in the speech.
"The president was taking various things into account: domestic harmony, international support and cross-strait stability," he said.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
RSS