President Chen Shui-bian (
Later in the day, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus said it would introduce a bill defending the "sovereignty of the Republic of China [ROC]" in an act of defiance against China's move to enshrine aggression toward Taiwan in Chinese law.
Chen was addressing a ceremony marking the promotion of military personnel to the post of general in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Noting China's increase in military spending even as it refused to renounce the use of force against Taiwan, Chen appealed to the public to support the arms-procurement budget, which is stalled in the legislature.
The DPP caucus is seeking the support of the People First Party (PFP) to push the bill through the legislature. In return, the DPP would support a first reading for the PFP's "cross-strait peace advancement" bill and its delivery to appropriate committees for review.
"We are proposing this bill to counter China's anti-secession bill, and there shouldn't be any reason for the pan-blue camp to oppose it," DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (
Ker said that he would ask opposition caucuses to negotiate the matter on Monday and try to have the bill pass the Procedure Committee the following day so that it can be handled at the next legislative sitting.
The resolution states that Taiwan is a sovereign and independent country neither governed by nor belonging to China. It also says that the cross-strait "status quo" cannot be changed unless the public consent to this via referendum.
The DPP's bill has not been welcomed by members of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU).
"We definitely won't back it. If the DPP wants us to sign, they should make a new constitution first to define the ROC's status," TSU caucus whip Chen Chien-ming (
But it was not clear at press time if the TSU caucus had come up with a formal response, with acting chairman Huang Chung-yuan (
The PFP caucus, meanwhile, said it would back the bill only if the DPP added a clause opposing independence and insisting on the retention of the national title.
At the same time, PFP caucus whip Liu Wen-hsiung (
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching