Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday blocked the budget of the Ministry of National Defense's General Political Warfare Bureau following the changing of a slogan in its publication, Youth Daily, from "the military fights for the republic of China" to "the military fights for Taiwan."
At a legislative National Defense Committee meeting yesterday reviewing next year's military budget, KMT legislators said they were blocking the NT$70 million (US$2.1 million) budget set aside for the General Political Warfare Bureau over the slogan change.
KMT Legislator Lin Teh-fu (林德福) said KMT legislators strongly opposed the change to the long-used front-page slogan.
Lin said that Minister of National Defense Lee Tien-yu (李天羽) had told the committee that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had ordered the military to change the slogan. As Chen is the commander-in-chief, the military had to obey the order, Lin quoted Lee as saying.
KMT Legislator Su Chi (蘇起) said Chen's order sought to promote the independence movement within the military.
KMT legislators asked the publication to reinstate its old slogan, or the bureau's budget would continue to be blocked.
DPP Legislator Tang Huo-shen (湯火聖) told the meeting the DPP would support the budget.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators