President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has invited the heads of the five branches of government to discuss major issues, probably next week, Presidential Office staff said yesterday.
Following reports that Chen had invited the heads of the Cabinet, the legislature, the judiciary, the Examination Yuan and the Control Yuan to a dinner meeting on Monday, officials said they hoped the meeting would take place later in the week.
Chen last met the five heads in early July to collect opinions on setting up a commission to probe the March 19 assassination attempt, as well as other issues.
At that meeting, Chen showed the officials the gunshot wounds he had sustained on his abdomen to dispel doubts surrounding the attack, which the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party claimed was staged to help him win the presidential election.
Last week, Chen signed into law a special statute passed by the Legislative Yuan to allow the formation of a commission to investigate the shooting.
Chen said that while the government supported the investigation, it should not be unconstitutional.
Since the statute has generated considerable controversy, it should be sent to the Council of Grand Justices for an assessment of its constitutionality, Chen said.
Chen also proposed a state-of-the-nation address to the Legislative Yuan to address the major issues of arms procurement, the nation's UN bid and promoting peace in the Taiwan Strait.
But the pan-blue alliance said that it was up to the legislature to invite the president to deliver such a report and that Chen should answer questions.
Chen said he would not agree to questions from legislators as the Constitution only allows them to question the premier and government heads.
The Presidential Office would not confirm if recent developments will be included on the agenda.
It said only that Chen "will discuss major national issues of mutual concern with the heads of the five yuans."
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai