Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) challenged Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) right after he took over the party leadership yesterday to mean business in his pledge to reform the party, particularly on the issues of "black gold" and vote-buying.
Su also challenged Ma to lead the KMT into what he described as "benevolent competition" with the DPP during the year-end elections of county magistrates and mayors.
During a stumping tour of Taoyuan in northern Taiwan, Su advised Ma to shed his "teflon" image if he wants to wean his party off the so-called "black gold" or money politics and vote-buying.
Su said he understands Ma's ambition to lead the KMT to win back power in the 2008 presidential election, but the DPP will do its utmost to get good grades on President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration, an achievement that he claimed will ensure the DPP continues as the ruling party.
William Lai (
According to Lai, Ma spent much of his speech attacking the president and his administrative record as if he was delivering a campaign speech in 2008.
"Loud criticism of the DPP does not mean the KMT will improve, as that requires concrete strategies," Lai said.
He also ridiculed Ma for "copying what Lien Chan (
Cheng Chen-lung (程振隆), secretary-general of the pro-independence opposition Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), said that if Ma wants the "pan-blue alliance" to take power in 2008, he must deal with the baggage of the party's ill-gotten assets, return the party to the middle ground and respect the people's right to choose between unification and independence.
Ma's anti-Taiwan independence remarks show that he does not respect the people, he claimed, adding that Ma should agree to allow the people a free choice between unification with China and Taiwan independence.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
RSS