Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma was trying to deflect criticism from People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
On Saturday Wang claimed that cancellation of the rallies after the shooting of president Chen Shui-bian (
Earlier in the week Soong said that it was Ma -- in his role of manager of the blue camp's presidential campaign -- who had urged that the pan-blue camp cancel the three mass rallies it had planned for the night of March 19, 2004 after the shooting occurred and that the decision to cancel the rallies had been made by Ma.
Ma told reporters yesterday, however, that the decision to cancel was a joint decision by all those involved in leading the pan-blue campaign, including himself, Wang, KMT Secretary-General Lin Feng-cheng (
At the time, Ma said yesterday, the details concerning Chen and Lu's shooing were unclear. While it was known Chen was not in danger, no one knew if his condition would worsen, Ma said. As a result, the pan-blue camp decided that it would be more prudent to cancel the rallies, he said.
However, "if we had known," said Ma, of course the rallies would not have been canceled.
Ma also criticized Chen's comments yesterday supporting the creation of a second special investigation committee to investigate the shooting and Chen's suggestion that Lien and Soong should serve as the committee's conveners.
"This sort of talk, shouldn't it have been said a year ago?" said Ma yesterday.
Meanwhile, the People First Party (PFP) said in response to Chen that Soong, as one of those directly affected by the shooting attempt, did not feel it would be suitable for him to be the committee's convener.
The pan-blues continue to assert that the shooting, which police believe was carried out by one of their own supporters, was staged by the Chen-Lu campaign to win sympathy votes.
In the past year they have provided no evidence to back up their accusation.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all