Several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators and senior pro-independence advocate Lee Hung-hsi (
DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said at a press conference that they hoped to hold the referendum jointly with the year-end legislative election, possibly with another DPP-initiated referendum on the recovery of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) stolen assets.
"President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) previously mentioned that he would like the nation to apply for UN membership under the name of Taiwan. His statement highlighted the legitimacy of doing so," Gao said.
Lee, seen by many as President Chen's mentor, said "two immutable facts" remained after Japan gave up sovereignty over Taiwan: there are two "Chinas" and Taiwan and China are two different countries.
All the talk about unification with China was unrealistic because after the People's Republic of China took over the UN seat, the Republic of China (ROC) no longer enjoyed recognition by the international community, Lee said.
"Taiwan has gone down the path of delivering a new constitution and correcting the nation's title," added Lee, who formerly served as Ketagalan Academy president and is now convenor of the government's New Constitution Workshop. "There is no turning back."
DPP Legislator Chen Tsiao-long (
"If we don't do this today, we will regret it in the future," he said.
The Referendum Law (
After passing the threshold, another 830,000 signatures have to be gathered within six months for a referendum to be held.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
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