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Nominee sparks KMT's ire with remark on ROC

Independent Legislator Li Ao holds up a copy of Wenxing, a magazine that promoted democracy and personal freedom in the 1960s, while raising questions on whether President Chen Shui-bian's nominees for the Council of Grand Justices would handle his pending corruption case justly after the end of his tenure. PHOTO: CNA

Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission Chairman Hsu Chih-hsiung (許志雄), a nominee for the Council of Grand Justices, caused a stir yesterday when answering a question from a pan-blue lawmaker on whether the Republic of China (ROC) existed.

"It depends from which angle you want me to answer," Hsu said. "Domestically, the ROC exists, but internationally, the ROC was replaced by People's Republic of China [PRC] in 1971 ... It's a complicated problem."

Pounding his desk, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) responded: "You don't have to stand there [answering my questions] if you don't believe in the existence of the ROC."

The heated exchange happened during a legislative question-and-answer session in which lawmakers grilled four grand justice nominees. Four other grand justice nominees faced questions from lawmakers last week.

The confirmation vote takes place today, when legislators will vote to determine the president and vice president of the Judicial Yuan.

Hsu, Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮), a law professor at National Taiwan University, Liu Shing-i (劉幸義), a law professor at National Taipei University, and Yeh Sai-ying (葉賽鶯), a retired Supreme Court justice, said that they had been put on the pan-blue camp's blacklist.

The four nominees are known for their affiliation with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

DPP legislative caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said later yesterday that the worst-case scenario today would see half of the eight grand justice nominees voted down.

The nominees need to gain confirmation from more than half, or 109, of the 217 lawmakers to meet the Constitutional requirement. The DPP and its pan-green ally the Taiwan Solidarity Union together hold just 96 legislative seats.

KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said at yesterday's session that he would suggest the KMT caucus cast a no vote for Hsu, Yeh Jiunn-rong and Liu.

Pan-blue lawmakers took issue with Liu, saying he was not qualified to be a grand justice because he presents most of his law classes in Hoklo, or Taiwanese, not Mandarin.

KMT Legislator Chang Jen-hsiang (章仁香) said Liu "violated the principle of equality" enshrined in the Constitution, as teaching in Taiwanese deprived students who can't understand the language of the right to take his classes.

Liu, who started to teach law in Taiwanese in 1989, said he decided to do so because he felt sad about the rapid decline of the language.

"Many young students are not used to their mother tongue, and they even discriminate against it," Liu said, adding that he only taught optional classes in Taiwanese and that he always let students know in advance so that they could register for other classes if the language is a problem for them.

Meanwhile, lawmakers yesterday again failed to reach a consensus on the design of the ballot for the confirmation of the grand justice nominees.

The pan-blue camp prefers one grand justice nominee per ballot and one box per nominee, as this would help the party monitor how its lawmakers voted, while the DPP favors one ballot for all eight nominees and using four boxes.

Lawmakers will vote on the ballot design before the confirmation vote starts.
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