Pan-green lawmakers yesterday slammed Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) for leading a group of 15 lawmakers on a trip to disputed waters near the Diaoyutais, saying he was being carried away by quest for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship. They also berated pan-blue legislators for meddling in the Ministry of National Defense's deployment plans.
Criticizing yesterday's high-profile day trip as a "political performance," Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucus whip Ho Min-hao (
"We are very disappointed to see the KMT chairmanship election turn out to be like this," he said. "While Speaker Wang is wasting taxpayers' money, his rival Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Ho was referring to a comment made by Ma yesterday encouraging the navy to "use a battle to force a peace," ie, to stand up to Japan and force negotiations over the fishery dispute.
Ho did not participate in yesterday's trip. Ten of the lawmakers who did were from the KMT, three from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and two from the People First Party (PFP).
Ho said that the government should have made an effort to resolve fishery disputes by diplomatic channels instead of resorting to military means. He also said that a new law should be enacted to clearly demarcate the nation's territorial waters and boundaries.
At present the Constitution simply says: "the territory of the Republic of China according to its existing national boundaries shall not be altered except by resolution of the National Assembly."
During its 50-year rule, the KMT claimed that the nation's boundaries covered China, Tibet and Mongolia.
Ho said that while his caucus endorses the government's resolve to protect Taiwanese fishermen, such a responsibility should fall on the Coast Guard Administration (CGA), not the defense ministry.
What opposition lawmakers should have done, Ho said, is to approve more funding for the CGA to upgrade its equipment instead of complicating an already thorny issue.
"We'd really hate for the international community to see us as a troublemaker inciting regional instability," he said.
Calling on opposition lawmakers to pass the arms procurement budget, Ho also accused them of adopting a double standard in the face of China's military threat.
TSU Legislator Tseng Tsan-teng (曾燦燈) painted yesterday's trip as a farce because while the defense minister has the power to dispatch troops, Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) complied with the request made by People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), whose job is to oversee the ministry's operations.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) asked if Lin had encroached on President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) constitutional responsibility to command the armed forces.
Meanwhile, DPP caucus whip Lai Ching-te (
Lai also condemned what he called Wang and Ma's abuse of national resources for the KMT election. He said Wang's leading the legislative delegation yesterday was both "incorrect" and "failing to tell a friend from a foe." He lambasted Ma for spending NT$250,000 of Taipei residents' money to hold a forum with retired servicemen and their families, saying it using public resources for personal gain.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS