In view of the frenzy of proposed visits to China planned by opposition party leaders, President Chen Shui-bian (
"Only when the government demonstrates a determination to uphold the law, will the race between political parties to suck up to China end," said Thomas Hung (
According to Hung, "the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] administration has appeared soft in terms of exercising its authority."
Hung made the remarks with reference to the recent China visit made by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kun (
In the wake of his trip to China, during which Chiang had represented the KMT in forming a 10-point agreement with Beijing, a private citizen filed a lawsuit against him, accusing him of violating Article 113 of the Criminal Code by signing an agreement with a foreign government without proper authorization.
According to Article 113 of the Criminal Code, anyone who enters into an unauthorized agreement with a foreign government on matters that require government approval may receive a minimum seven-year jail term or a maximum life sentence.
"Since the news broke out, however, we have not yet heard any follow-up or progress in the investigation into whether or not Chiang broke the law," Hung said.
"The DPP administration should not flinch, but should remain firm in its stance and show its determination to follow through in accordance with the law in exercising its authority," Hung said, adding that "for otherwise, everyone will follow suit and become oblivious to the government's authority."
In view of KMT Chairman Lien Chan's (
The government could hold a press conference and express its position and clearly draw where the lines are, said Chin Heng-wei (
"With all things clearly said and outlined beforehand, the government could just proceed in accordance with the law should [Lien or Soong] overstep these lines in speech or conduct while in China," Chin said.
Hung said the president should also consider postponing a planned overseas trip.
Chen is scheduled to fly to the Marshall Islands on May 1 for a week-long trip that will also take him to Kiribati and Tuvalu, three Pacific countries that recognize Taipei instead of Beijing.
Lien is slated to depart for China about the same period of time.
According to the itinerary announced by the KMT, Lien is to depart for China on April 26, and during his week-long visit he will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in Beijing on April 29.
He will also visit Xi'an, deliver a speech at Peking University and meet with Taiwanese businesspeople in Shanghai before returning to Taipei on May 3.
"At time a like this, which matters greatly to Taiwan's survival, the president should station himself in the Presidential Office so that he could be in the most optimal position to receive timely information about what's happening and then give a timely response accordingly if necessary," Hung said.
Echoing Hung's suggestion, political commentator Yang Hsien-hung (
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:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
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