Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Shu Chin-chiang (
At a training seminar held for its assembly delegates, Shu gave a lecture on "the TSU's strategies in the National Assembly," and called on the party's 21 delegates to stick to the TSU's stance on the constitutional reforms during the assembly's session, which opens on Monday.
"Writing a new constitution and correcting the country's name is the key strategy and goal for Taiwan's transformation into a country with normal systems," Shu said.
"If we can't achieve these two aims, Taiwan's independence will only be empty talk."
"TSU delegates have to explain the outcome for Taiwan if the constitutional amendments are passed," Shu said.
Shu added that the delegates will receive attendance fees but that the party will donate these to public welfare groups.
The TSU later set up its assembly caucus in the afternoon. The party, which has the third-largest number of delegates in the assembly, will recommend Annie Lee (
Chien Lin Hui-chien (
Liu Yi-teh (劉一德), director of the TSU's organization department, who was also a lecturer at yesterday's seminar, instructed the party's delegates to make protests and create a ruckus during their allotted speech times to accentuate the infeasibility of the constitutional amendments.
TSU Secretary-General Chen Chien-ming (
"The TSU opposes passing these constitutional amendments, which will essentially deprive people of the right to revise the Constitution, given the incredibly high ratification threshold," Chen said during the seminar.
"We think that only by highlighting the absurdity of these constitutional amendments and the significance of writing a new constitution can Taiwan become a country with normal systems and the status of a nation."
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,