With President Chen Shui-bian (
Ma called on Chen to "place the interests of the people above personal gains" and not to adversely affect cross-strait stability.
In reply to media questions after presiding over the opening of an art exhibition, Ma said he was in no mood to make any further comments on this issue, as the powers that be should make people's daily lives their top priority.
"Whether or not to do away with the council and guidelines will not add or deduct an ounce from people's problems," he said.
Ma said that the government should instead focus its attention on such problems as "credit card slaves," many of whom have ended up taking extreme measures to evade their credit card debts.
The People First Party (PFP) urged the president to "rein in his horse before he jumps off a cliff."
PFP spokesman Hsieh Kung-ping (謝公秉) said it is beyond doubt that both the US and China have deep suspicions about Chen's recent moves toward abolishing the council and guidelines, one of his five campaign promises to not destabilizing the cross-strait situation.
Chen's expression of his intention to do away with the guidelines and what he called "outdated and anachronistic" council have severely affected Taiwan's national security and international reputation, Hsieh said.
Hsieh said that if Chen continues to ignore the opposition's warnings, his party will be forced to consider the possibility of launching a campaign to recall the president together with other like-minded political forces.
""As of now, our strategy is to ask President Chen or other responsible officials to make a special report on the subject to the legislature," he said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS