President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said last night that former defense minister Chiang Chung-ling (蔣仲苓) and former director of the Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen (退輔會) Hsu Li-lung (許歷農) were the ones behind his recent comments about a "soft coup d'etat."
Chen made the revelation during a campaign rally in Hsinchu County, one week after he first revealed that the opposition pan-blue camp had attempted to launch a "soft coup d'etat" in the wake of the March presidential election.
Cabinet officials such as Government Information Office (GIO) Director-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and Council for Economic Planning and Development Vice Chairman Chang Ching-sen (張景森) also made speeches to back up the DPP's administration during the rally.
Lin yesterday targeted Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for Ma's remarks attacking Chen over traffic regulations.
Lin said Ma only wanted to hide his incompetence in handling municipal affairs and highlight himself as the pan-blue camp's would-be leader.
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), who also participated in the Hsinchu City rally, stressed the importance of legislative reform and strongly backed legislative caucus leader Kerr Chien-ming (柯建銘), who is campaigning in Hsinchu City.
Earlier in the morning, the DPP was busy responding to the news that Taitung County Commissioner Hsu Ching-yuan (徐慶元), who yesterday announced that he would withdraw from the People First Party and promised that he would appear onstage with Chen at a rally for DPP candidate Hsu Jui-kui (許瑞貴) in Taitung County.
DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday said that he called Hsu Chin-yuan and expressed his appreciation to him for supporting the DPP.
Chang said that he and Hsu Ching-yuan had a good conversation, adding that he will go to Taitung County to discuss campaign details with him.
"The DPP has the same view as Commissioner Hsu: that there should be balanced development in eastern Taiwan as well as western Taiwan," Chang said.
"As long as the policies and budget that the local government has are beneficial to local people, the DPP government is willing to give its support, regardless of whether the local chiefs are of the pan-green or pan-blue camp," Chang said.
"We respect Commissioner Hsu's political decision to become a public figure without party affiliation," Chang said.
"But I believe the commissioner's example shows that there is no problem for the central and local governments to cooperate with each other closely, as long as local development is the first concern."
"We never talked about Hsu's future, and it is impossible that we offered any incentives, as the pan-blue camp accused," Chang said, asking the pan-blues to stop attacking Hsu.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
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