Former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh's (李遠哲) open letter to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was the center of political discussion yesterday with the opposition parties praising him for his "morality" and courage while the other side panned him for being biased, or worse, an "opportunist."
In his letter issued on Thursday from Paris, Lee said that the president should carefully consider whether he should tender his resignation to safeguard the nation's democracy.
Lee also wrote that the "the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) must choose to prioritize between their party and the entire country."
In response, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday urged the DPP to take Lee's comments seriously and support the third recall motion.
"Although Lee issued the letter a little too late, we applaud him for possessing such morality and courage ... He made the remarks because of disappointment with the DPP's continued support for the president. The [DPP] party should take his words seriously," KMT Spokesman Huang Yu-cheng (黃玉振) said at the party's headquarters.
Huang said the vote on the recall motion on Nov. 24 would be the DPP's last and best chance to separate itself from the president, and urged the party to reconsider the issue and support the motion with courage.
People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
Soong urged former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (
"If Hsieh is willing to do so, he still has a chance in the 2008 presidential election. Lin should also come forward as Lee did if he still cares about Taiwan's democracy," Soong said while campaigning for a PFP city councilor candidate.
If both Lin and Hsieh joined Lee to urge the president to step down, the chances of the third recall motion passing the legislature would be much greater, Soong said.
The KMT caucus also urged Lin to make public his stance concerning the president.
DPP Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the party understood that Lee made the suggestion out of goodwill and that the party would review its approach.
The DPP has always upheld the interests of the country and the public and cares deeply about the nation's democratic development, Lin said, adding that the DPP would let history be the judge for anything it did.
DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun told the media while campaigning for the party in Kaohsiung that Lee's comments were "biased" and "unfair to the DPP" because "the DPP has never been a corrupt or impenitent party."
DPP Legislator Wang Shih-cheng (
"His seemingly gentle appearance and humble words are but covers for his opportunistic character," Wang said.
Lee's opinions were "ridiculous" because he himself had failed to offer suggestions when they were needed over the past six years, Wang added.
DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (
"A good political party should do the right thing so that the public will support it," Lee Wen-chung said.
DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (
Independent Legislator Li Ao (
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
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
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
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai