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.
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
RSS