Premier Frank Hsieh (
"Chairman Lien said that he is going to China because he wants to do something for the Taiwanese people. However, if that is the case, he should help us pass several important bills that concern the public and have been pending at the legislature for a while, before he works on foreign affairs," Hsieh said. "It is really not persuasive that he is doing something for the people."
Hsieh said that, since the KMT holds the majority in the legislature, if Lien wants to do something for the people he should urge his fellow KMT members in the legislature to support the important bills that had been proposed by the government so that the bills would be approved and help the public in different aspects of their daily life.
Hsieh made his remarks during a briefing with lawmakers after hearing complaints from KMT Legislator Kuo Su-chun (
"What [Lien] needs to do is ask KMT lawmakers to support the pending bills and help us approve them. As for his trip to China, all he needs to do is obey the law. That is very simple," Hsieh said. "Unfortunately, what he is doing now is not persuasive, is it?"
Under the law, anybody who tries to represent the country or makes deals or agreements with a foreign country must gain the authorization from his own country beforehand. However, Lien has yet to talk to any government officials, although the KMT has announced that Lien will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao (
"The KMT is the majority in legislature. If they (KMT lawmakers) feel that the current law is unfair to their chairman, they can try to fix it. However, it will not be logical and reasonable if they do not want to amend the law, and yet do not want to follow the law, either," Hsieh said. "If everybody does the same thing, the government will be screwed."
The premier said that he is expecting the KMT chairman to be a good role model for the people by following the rules. As for People First Party Chairman James Soong's (
"Soong and President Chen Shui-bian (
In addition, Soong never said that he will not discuss his trip to China with the government. So we do not have to worry about it yet," Hsieh said.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address
RSS