Vice President Annette Lu (
"I have never joined the `first force' nor will I join the `second force,' not to mention the `third force,'" she said. "It has never crossed my mind. It has never even appeared in my dreams."
Lu was responding to speculation that former president Lee Teng-hui (
Lu made the remarks during a question-and-answer session during a tea party for the Presidential Office's press corps.
She said that some media outlets would fabricate news to boost their circulation or viewership. She singled out an inaccurate report that she and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
A more recent example was the rumor that Lee wanted to see Wang and former premier Frank Hsieh (
Lu said she envied Wang in a way because he seemed to be a media favorite and he and Lee seemed to have very close ties.
Lu, who just recovered from an attack of shingles, said that Taiwan is sick and in a worse condition than she was in the past month.
She urged politicians to be less concerned about elections and personal or party considerations and more concerned about the people's livelihood. She also urged them to place more emphasis on honesty and sincerity.
Lu said that she and President Chen Shui-bian (
The remark created controversy since Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun had previously said that the party would recommend that Chen dissolve the legislature if the lawmakers voted in favor of bringing down the government.
Regarding the delay in approval of the president's nominees for the Control Yuan, the vice president said she disliked the suggestion that heads of the four branches of government review the president's nominations, saying that it would violate the separation of powers.
The Control Yuan is the government watchdog agency.
Lu, who chaired the review committee for Control Yuan nominees, said she had expressed her opposition to the idea to both Chen and Wang.
She said she didn't think Chen would follow through on the suggestion because he had told her that he would consider re-nominating the candidates on two conditions: If the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) promised not to increase the legislature's confirmation threshold from a simple majority to two-thirds and the legislature returned his nomination list before he made new nominations.
Lu also confirmed that the president had asked her to visit a diplomatic ally in Africa on his behalf, although she didn't mention a name. Details of the trip are still being arranged, she said.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition