Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers and party members yesterday identified the first family's recent controversies and the uncertainty over the nomination of the party's candidate for Taipei mayor as challenges facing the party in a day-long conference.
The conference was organized in a bid to find solutions to the problems posed by the DPP's deteriorating popularity and flagging public image. It was attended by party heavyweights, legislators, grassroots members and political researchers who offered their opinions and suggestions.
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun participated and presided over the discussion sessions.
The conference focused on three topics: the DPP's fundamental values and public image, the development of the DPP's central and local organizations and the DPP's nomination systems.
During the conference, DPP Taipei City Councilor Lee Chien-chang (李建昌) criticized President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his family for their lack of credibility and accountability on issues of integrity that have damaged the DPP's public image. Lee questioned why party heavyweights such as Lu, Yu, Su and Hsieh, who hold important governmental offices, had not raised these issues with the president.
"No matter how hard grassroots members try, high-ranking members can ruin our efforts easily," Lee said.
Some DPP members voiced similar opinions, saying the first family lacked humility and had no intention of reflecting upon their mistakes.
Another major talking point was the uncertainty over the party's candidate for the Taipei mayoral election, since nobody registered for the primary by last Friday's deadline. DPP Legislator You Ching (
You added that he felt the DPP had not been "fair" to him because the party actually wanted Hsieh to run for mayor. But the party chairman responded that You had failed to meet the application requirements and could not blame the party for this.
"The primary must be run according to the rules and we hope party members will obey those rules," Yu said.
Conference attendants also focused on discussing how to hammer out a new nomination system that would help the DPP to identify candidates who were capable of winning elections.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS