Premier Su Tseng-chang (
"We politicians should not only think about ourselves. We should think about this and see what we can do for the people," Su said, urging his colleagues to help end the protests, adding that scandals and corruption must be solved through the justice system.
"What we should do right now is figure out a way to end the protests as soon as possible, because more and more incidents are taking place and more and more people are getting injured."
Su made the remarks in response to questions from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator William Lai (賴清德) on the legislative floor yesterday about Monday's clash.
Lai told Su he was worried about the potential spread of such incidents, and the premier said that he was concerned as well.
"We 23 million Taiwanese citizens are all in the same boat. As a result, I sincerely urge my fellow politicians not to be selfish and to not only think about their own careers. We need to do something for our people and for this country," Su said.
The premier added that he had always been against the idea of expressing political ideas through protests.
"Protests create chaos and damage the economy, society and our next generations," Su said. "If the economy or society collapses, there will be no future for politicians, either."
Wang spoke in a separate setting yesterday, calling for people to remain coolheaded and to show respect and tolerance toward one other.
All politicians should share the responsibility of ironing out political differences and seeking stability and harmony for Taiwanese society, Wang said.
The legislative speaker also called for law enforcement authorities to take the clashes in Kaohsiung on Monday night as a lesson to prevent similar clashes from occurring in the future.
Wang appealed for legislators in particular to listen closer to the voices of the people and to help maintain calm in the community.
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,”