The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) sued three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whips for slander and "rebellion" yesterday for accusing KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kun (
"Their accusation constitutes slander and surpasses their immunity from prosecution as lawmakers," KMT Legislator Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) told a press conference yesterday.
"They should relinquish their posts straight away if they fail to name the time and place of the so-called `secret meeting,' as well as who attended the meeting and what was talked about," he said.
Tseng admitted he was not certain whether Chiang traveled to Bangkok before last year's presidential election to meet with Chinese officials.
"Even if he did go to Bangkok, I can guarantee you that the KMT did not sign any secret contract with the CCP," he said.
Accompanied by DPP caucus whips Chao Yung-ching (
The agreement allegedly paved the way for senior KMT officials to visit China. Chen provided no other information.
But Chen provided more details yesterday, saying that his information indicated Chiang visited Bangkok between Nov. 28 and Nov. 30 in 2003.
In addition to delivering a speech to Taiwanese expatriates and attending the inauguration ceremony of a support group for KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Chen also suggested the "Anti-Secession" Law was similar to the 10-point consensus reached between Chiang and Chinese officials on Wednesday.
"I highly suspect that the KMT knew about the content of the legislation before it was passed into law," he said. "Chiang owes the public an explanation as to why the 10-point consensus has so much in common with the 10-article Anti-Secession Law.
He should also tell the public whether he traveled to Bangkok, what he talked about with Chinese officials and why he has received such good treatment from the Chinese government this time."
Calling the 10-point consensus "sugar-coated poison," Chao yesterday said that he was worried that it may have a damaging impact on Taiwan in the long run.
Chao also warned that Chiang risked breaking the law by signing an agreement with a foreign country.
Lai yesterday berated the KMT for putting partisan interests before the interest of the people of Taiwan and belittling the nation's dignity and sovereignty.
"The KMT delegation says that the talks between Chiang and Chinese officials are not party-to-party negotiations, so I'm very interested in finding out what they are," he said. "If the KMT delegation does not represent its own party, what does it represent?"
KMT caucus whip Chen Chieh (
"I'm calling on the DPP caucus to stop spreading rumors and smearing the reputation of others who are eager to do things for the country," he said.
Huang Chao-shun (
KMT spokeswoman Cheng Li-wen (
Additional reporting by Caroline Hong
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS