Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday expressed divided views over the allegedly tense relationship between President Chen Shui-bian (
Claims have appeared in the Chinese-language media that Chen has accused Lu of "taking advantage" of him since she was elected to take over the party's helm after former DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) stepped down to take the blame for the party's poor election performance.
Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Ma Yung-cheng (
Speculation is mounting that the president is upset about Lu's recent high-profile moves after taking up the job. Lu has met with lawmakers, faction leaders and high-ranking party officials, which some people have interpreted as an aggressive effort to boost her chances in the DPP chairmanship election, which is scheduled to be held before the Lunar New Year.
Presidential Office officials have revealed that Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun may also consider running for the post if he receives the clear and full support of the president.
While Chen yesterday cancelled a planned meeting with Lu, Lu also cancelled her meeting with party officials.
Despite describing Lu as "hyperactive," DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yee (
"I think the president and the vice president may have not yet reached an agreement on what her new responsibilities are," he said. "The vice president and DPP members must work with each other to build more mutual trust."
DPP Legislator Lin Chung-mo (
"Many colleagues have seen her as a headache since she was elected vice president. I admit that she is a very talented and capable person, but one of her biggest shortcomings is that she is not a team player and has too much ego," Lin said.
Lin cited a comment reportedly made by Lu in the run-up to the Dec. 3 polls. Lu predicted that the DPP would lose the elections.
DPP Legislator Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) yesterday said that although he is not sure whether the president has indeed accused Lu of taking advantage of him, he thought it was inappropriate for Lu to make any major decisions before a new chairman has been elected.
"If she has any good ideas about party reform, she might want to leave it to the new chairman or ask the new chairperson to seriously consider it. However, it would be very inappropriate for an acting chairperson to make such important decisions or major changes," Lin said.
As the president has not yet revealed how he intends to tackle the political fallout created by the dismal election results, Lin yesterday said that Chen might want to focus on what direction the party is to take in future, what vision it plans to bring to the people and what government policies it intends to introduce before figuring out how to reorganize the government.
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
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
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
RSS