Lisa Huang (
"Since `non-partisan' means not sharing common political ideology, the public might become confused if such a name is permitted to be registered, as the name and the group's mission do not support one another," said Huang, who is an attorney.
Independent Legislator Su Ying-kuei (
"I was in a taxi today and the cab driver asked me if I was a member of NSU. It seems the public is perplexed about the group," Su said.
The NSU was formed yesterday when Chang Po-ya (
The NSU's membership so far includes nine other members: independent Legislators Yen Chin-piao (顏清標), Tsai Hao (蔡豪), May Chin (高金素梅), Walis Pelin (瓦歷斯貝林) and Chen Chin-ding (陳進丁); former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Lin Pin-kun (林炳坤), Lu Shin-ming (呂新民); former People First Party (PFP) legislator Chiu Chuang-liang (邱創良); and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Cheng Yu-cheng (鄭余鎮).
Huang cited the Social Groups Registration Regulation (
"According to this regulation, if a group's name, purpose and mission are not in accordance with one another, then the group's registration does not meet the stipulated procedural requirements," Huang said.
Huang also stated that the NSU is not in position to represent the majority of Taiwanese people who are not registered members of any political party.
"According to statistics, the total number of registered members of political parties comes to about 1.7 million, which is a small proportion of the population. Therefore, the NSU cannot be representative of all the rest," Huang said.
In response, the ministry's Department of Civil Affairs, which is in charge of political party registrations, stated that the ministry respects people's freedom of choice when it comes to selecting party names.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the