One of the two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators who staged a security drill stunt on Wednesday at National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday blamed the premier after fellow DPP members criticized him.
During yesterday's legislative national affairs forum -- where legislators can discuss any topic they want -- DPP Legislator Lee Chen-nan (李鎮楠) said that Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) had allowed DPP legislators with close ties to Su to attack him.
Lee and DPP Legislator Lin Kuo-ching (
They then proceeded to roam through the hallways and classrooms of NTU's College of Bio-Resources and Agriculture, where students were studying or taking mid-term examinations, where they were confronted by dozens of police officers sent from nearby Da-an Precinct wearing bullet-proof vests and carrying 9mm pistols and M-16 assault rifles. The pair then explained to the visibly agitated officers that it was only a drill.
Lee told a press conference on Thursday that he staged the drill out of concern for students in the wake of the killing rampage on Monday at NTU's sister school in the US, Virginia Tech University.
"The pro-independence media and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) have been criticizing me all day long, as if I and Lin Kuo-ching had committed a heinous offense," Lee said yesterday, emphasizing that he did not do anything wrong.
"Even Premier Su asked his men to attack me. Was this right and just?" he asked
When approached for comment on Lee's remarks, DPP Legislator Wu Ping-jui (
DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun said the pair should think about what they did and offer the public an apology.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all