As the news that Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) passed away spread yesterday morning, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) immediately suggested that People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) take over Koo's post as mediator of cross-strait affairs.
"The office of the SEF is a also a key position to promote the cooperation between the governing and opposition parties," said DPP caucus whip Lee Chun-yee (
"If PFP Chairman Soong doesn't think the position is too small, I think he is an ideal candidate," Lee added.
"But it is up to Soong, and we couldn't force him," Lee said.
"At any rate, infinite possibilities exist between cooperation of the DPP and the PFP and the other opposition party," he said.
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus whip Huang Tsung-yuan (
"If the Presidential Office does appoint Soong to take over the SEF chairman, the TSU would approve of this," Huang said.
The PFP's response to the invitation extended by the DPP's legislative caucus yesterday morning was low key.
Koo has just passed away, said PFP deputy secretary-general Chin Chin-sen (
"The DPP is one moment suggesting that Soong become the next head of a cross-strait peace committee, and one moment saying he should be the next head of the SEF. Mr. Soong is a very smart man. I think he can understand what the DPP is up to," the KMT's spokesman Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭) said yesterday afternoon after accompanying Lien to Koo's mourning hall.
However, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) echoed the pan-green camp's invitation, saying that Soong is an ideal candidate for SEF chairman.
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