President Chen Shui-bian (
On the day before he hits the campaign trail in Tainan, Chen yesterday led a group of DPP officials and legislative candidates campaigning in the northern electoral district of Taipei City to pray at Lungshan Temple (
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-TE, TAIPEI TIMES
"I believe that peace and happiness are the common prayers of the 23 million Taiwanese people," Chen said in a speech after his prayer.
"From tomorrow, A-bian is going to work together with everyone toward victory in the legislative elections. Hopefully we can make the wish come true and enable our government to do good things for all the people," he said.
Chen received an enthusiastic welcome from DPP supporters at Lungshan temple, where he handed out auspicious amulets.
He said that two auspicious amulets which he always takes with him had helped him to survive the assassination attempt on March 19. Chen expressed the hope that people who received amulets yesterday would also have good luck in life.
The president introduced Chang to the crowd as "the future legislative speaker." This is the first time that Chen has actively and personally declared his support for Chang as legislative speaker.
When asked about Chen's remarks, Chang confirmed that the president has suggested that he should campaign to be elected speaker if the pan-green camp wins the majority in the legislature. But he said the president has not mentioned whether he will be teamed up with the candidate nominated by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) to contend for the posts of speaker and deputy speaker.
Chang said that he will devote himself to reforming the Legislative Yuan and abolishing the unreasonable regulations that protect lawmakers.
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) held a news conference later yesterday to accentuate the president's support of Chang, saying that Chang, who has served as premier and has been a legislator for six terms, is the ideal candidate to become legislative speaker.
"Chang's experience and integrity qualify him to be the speaker. Chang is familiar with how a constitutional government works and has resolved many major controversies when serving as premier, which we believe could bring a new professionalism to the legislature," Lee said.
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) said that the legislature has degenerated because of its leadership, and the next speaker will have to rebuild the Legislative Yuan's credibility and dignity since so many lawmakers treat the legislature as their "legal shelter."
To give momentum to Chang's campaign, DPP Information and Culture Department Director Cheng Wen-tsan (
Meanwhile, pro-independence advocates yesterday held a news conference to urge voters to support the candidates of the pan-green camp, saying that this round of legislative elections were a juncture for ascertaining the national identification of the people of Taiwan. They urged voters not to allow candidates who speak for China to enter the legislature.
"We hope that voters can spontaneously adopt the vote-allocation strategy to ensure every TSU and DPP candidate will be elected," North Society chairman Wu Shuh-min (吳樹民) said.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS