Reacting to President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) disapproval of the new Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) movement, the proposers of the idea -- the DPP's candidate for the Taipei County commissioner election, Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉), and former legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) -- yesterday said that the president's comments might thwart the movement.
Nevertheless, they said they still hoped the DPP could insist on reform, since this was generally expected by the people of Taiwan.
"Good advice always falls hard on the ear," said Luo, who was criticized by Chen to his face on Thursday evening during a meeting with high-ranking DPP officials to discuss remedies for the party's damaged image after a recent trail of corruption allegations.
"But I think the president's opinions are alright and acceptable to me," Luo said.
Spirit
At the meeting in Taipei Guest House, Chen said that he could identify with the spirit of the new DPP movement and that it was beyond doubt that the DPP needed reform, but he could not agree with the title of the movement.
"The term `new' indicates the existence of `old.' But how do we distinguish between the new and the old in the DPP? Such a differentiation will only cause huge misunderstandings," Chen said.
Chen said that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) experienced a split because of a similar campaign and this should be a lesson for today's DPP members.
The New KMT Alliance (
In reaction to Chen's comments, Luo yesterday said that according to his observations public expectations for reform of the DPP has reached a critical point and the party would rapidly lose support if it fails to deliver concrete results.
"I think there is no reason to stop it [the new DPP movement] as a Pandora's box has been opened," Luo said.
"If the angle and scale of the reforms do not satisfy the public's expectations, they will feel frustrated and will not trust the DPP anymore," he said.
Setback
Tuan, who also listened to Chen's views on the new DPP movement, said that the president's remarks were a telling setback to the movement and he was quite surprised at the president's comments.
"As far as I know, the public in general has a positive and affirmative attitude toward the new DPP movement," said Tuan, who is leader of the DPP's New Tide faction.
"The fundamental values that the movement addresses are regaining people's trust of the DPP's integrity and sticking to reform plans," he said.
"I don't think focusing on the name of the movement is meaningful and it would only blur the nature of the movement," Tuan said.
Luo echoed Tuan's opinion, saying that the title was corrigible but that there was no reason to shrink back from the direction the movement was taking.
"The chance [for change] is temporary and the DPP has to seize the moment to prove its resolve to enact reforms and conduct self-investigation," he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS