The pan-blue camp's lawyers said yesterday they would appeal to the Supreme Court today regarding a verdict declared by the High Court on Nov. 4, that ruled the re-election of President Chen Shui-bian (
The lawyers said they would file the appeal against Chen and Lu at court today. They plan to hold a press conference afterward to explain why they decided to make the move.
Meanwhile, voters that wish to maintain the status quo and support constitutional reforms should vote for pan-blue camp candidates in the upcoming legislative elections, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Responding to Chen's campaign speech on Saturday night, Lien called on Chen to clearly identify his position on changes to Taiwan's Constitution in order to give voters a better idea of whom to pick in the Dec. 11 elections.
In his speech on Saturday, Chen identified a number of constitutional reforms he supported, calling for "an end to the use of the Chinese constitutional law in Taiwan." Last night, however, Chen deliberately left open the question of whether he believes Taiwan should completely rewrite its Constitution or merely reform the existing one.
There are many differing opinions in Taiwan about whether to revise Taiwan's Constitution or write a new one, Lien said yesterday.
The KMT, People First Party (PFP), and the New Party support making reforms to the Constitution, in order to tailor the nation's constitutional law to suit Taiwan's current needs, Lien said yesterday while stumping for pan-blue candidate Alex Fei (費鴻泰) in Taipei.
Fei is a New Party member who is running under the KMT banner in Taipei's north voting district.
In contrast, Chen has still not made clear whether he supports rewriting or just reforming the Constitution, Lien said yesterday, adding that such ambiguity is confusing for voters.
"People who support rewriting the Constitution, should vote for that `little party' [the Taiwanese Solidarity Union (TSU)]. Those who support constitutional reform, should vote for KMT, PFP and New Party candidates," Lien said yesterday.
While Chen and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have been unclear about whether they support completely rewriting or just reforming the Constitution, the TSU's spiritual leader, former president Lee Teng-hui (
In a press release issued by the KMT late Saturday night after Chen's speech, KMT spokesman Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭) criticized Chen's call for putting an end to the use of the Chinese Constitution as a misunderstanding of the current situation and a move towards independence for Taiwan.
In the statement, Chang said that the Constitution used by Taiwan was never called the "Chinese Constitution" but is instead the Constitution of the Republic of China.
As a result, Chang warned, Chen's words could be interpreted by China to mean that the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China's constitution includes Taiwan.
Furthermore, said Chang, while Taiwan's people and the KMT do not support the positions held forth in China's constitution, they value the status quo.
Chen's direct call for an end to the use of a Chinese constitution in Taiwan will only derail any chances for cross-strait peace, Chang said.
While on the campaign trial in Taipei County, PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) also criticized Chen's comments, highlighting in particular Chen's call to eliminate the Taiwan Province level of government.
In 1997, the provincial administration was streamlined through constitutional changes.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods