Former senior presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (
"After Beijing passed its `Anti-Secession' Law, Taiwan has become divided," Koo said. "I think President Chen's recent remarks signaled a crisis in his leadership and in the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP], which is slanting toward China."
Koo made the remarks yesterday at a news conference held by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and other pro-independence groups to urge voters to support the TSU in the National Assembly Elections on Saturday.
Koo said that Taiwan has been rocked by opposition leaders' trips to China, and it is no help to Taiwan if the two pan-green camp leaders continue to confront each other.
Koo said that the president had complained to him privately about Lee's recent comments on cross-strait relations for about 90 minutes while the two were on a trip to the Marshall Islands earlier this month.
"I thought it was only President Chen's [personal] grievance [against Lee]. However, I was so surprised that Chen would make public these complaints," Koo said. "I think it was so inappropriate for a national leader to make such remarks in public."
"After hearing President Chen's criticisms of Lee in the first interview on TV, I planned to act as a mediator between Lee and Chen; however, when I heard Chen's words in the second interview, I felt I had no position to so do," Koo said.
"President Chen lost his dignity as a national leader for criticizing former president Lee with strong rhetoric," Koo said. "I think he is incorrigible."
Koo also said that he does not support the constitutional reforms the National Assembly is to consider.
The amendments are incomplete, and will only cause confusion in the nation's political system if they are passed, he said.
"The TSU is the only party that is concerned about Taiwan's destiny. Although there is still a long way to go before the TSU can replace the DPP, I urge the people of Taiwan to nourish the TSU through these elections," Koo said.
In related news, Lee will hold a news conference this evening in Taipei to respond to the outcome of People First Party Chairman James Soong's (
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
RSS